One Piece: Blood in the Shallows
by Knight Terror
Summary: Sanji's code of honor is put to the test when a woman from his past finds him upon the Grand Line and asks him to partake in a perilous quest that can't involve the other Straw Hats. Initially dismissive, Sanji's loyalty to his crew conflicts with his chivalrous nature when he learns a long-forgotten enemy has resurfaced who is slaying pirates and marines alike.
1. Chapter 1

**This has long been a work in progress which I initially began writing while watching the Water Seven arc. Much has been revealed about Sanji's past since then but for the sake of this story, none of that matters. This is an alternate timeline adventure that does not connect to canon in any way after Robin's rescue from Enies Lobby, hence why Franky and Brook are missing. I was also not aware there was another anime called "Black Clover." There may be minor inconsistencies and some liberties taken regarding Devil Fruit powers, character backstories and overall tone, but I hope such alterations can be forgiven if not appreciated as well.**

**PART ONE: Marion **

Standing beside the foremast of the sleek black ship, the lean woman tossed her plum-colored bangs from her eyes as a glimmer of light pricked the dark horizon where gray sky met black sea.

"And there it is…." She grinned triumphantly, her warm breath clouding the cold night air in front of her.

She pulled her wide-brimmed cavalier hat down low over her forehead, it's felt brim sporting a curved silver blade instead of a traditional ostrich plume. In silhouette, it gave her shadow the appearance of having a shark's fin upon her brow, and the foreboding metaphor was not lost on her.

From the crow's nest above her a hooded figure leapt down to the deck beside her, landing nimbly like a bird on a perch.

"Impossible to find by day, difficult to locate at night, but wait until twilight, and it will willingly beckon you forth…" Her eyes glimmered as she spoke, like she was remembering long lost poetry.

The twin rapiers sheathed across her belt rapped together softly as she turned and walked towards the small boat waiting to be launched on the port side.

"How many guards?" The hooded figure asked before following in her wake.

"Not enough…" The blade master replied.

"Lady Rook!" A voice called to her from the quarter deck. "The flares are set to launch at your signal."

"Should only need one…" She replied as she stepped into the transport boat. "Be ready to weigh anchor as soon as it gets wet. The Bishop and I won't be gone long."

The hooded figure stepped into the boat after her, as silent as snowfall.

"Oh…" Lady Rook called back to the crew. "Have the Seastone cuffs ready, just in case."

The boat descended into the choppy feral waters of the Grand Line.

* * *

The two marines on guard duty by the short pier noticed the boat by the glow of the lighthouse behind them. Stationed on what was barely a spit of rock in the middle of the open ocean, they knew there was absolutely no reason for anyone to dock at the island unless there was a monthly shift rotation. They had been posted there less than a week.

They raised their rifles and trained them at the approaching boat. A woman in a wide-brimmed hat sat casually within the vessel with one leg resting over the other and blew both men a sly kiss.

"Who's there? Identify yourself!"

"I'm the last face you'll ever see…" She said cheerfully.

With the force of a tidal wave crashing against the rocks, both men were catapulted with tremendous force across the sea, skipping like pebbles across the surface before the cold darkness swallowed them up.

"Well done Bishop…" Lady Rook applauded as she stepped out of the boat and placed her polished boot upon the dock. The hooded figure materialized out of the shadows to her left.

From somewhere atop the lighthouse there came a single gunshot, but it wasn't aimed at them. It was a warning, summoning the remaining men at arms to the pier.

"Now here's a proper reception…" The woman smirked as twelve marines rushed down the dock from the lighthouse entryway. The hooded figure vanished stealthily into the night and Lady Rook drew both her rapiers from her belt and spread her arms wide, planting her feet and standing with both blades pointing to either side, causing her long shadow to cast itself back across the water like a crucifix.

At that signal, a blood-red flare shot upwards from her ship anchored out upon the sea and a second shadow birthed itself in front of her cast by the crimson light. All twelve men cried out in agony as in a flash they were all cut down with a storm of furious strikes and blood rained down upon the wet wood of the pier.

Lady Rook replaced her swords in their sheaths. She hadn't moved a muscle, yet all her enemies now lay in a mutilated heap before her. From atop the lighthouse, she heard an anguished cry as the lone marine up top was hurled down upon the rocks below by the Bishop.

"Meet you in the foyer." Lady Rook called out to her accomplice as she stepped over the bodies and made her way up the steps to the lighthouse entrance.

Once inside she scanned the room and took a quick inventory of the numerous wanted posters mounted like family photos along the walls. The Bishop gracefully leapt down from the balcony above to land by her side.

"Not here either…." She said with a disgruntled sigh. "Still being upstaged by this tripe…"

She gestured at the pictures of Captain Cavendish, Flower Sword Vista, and Roronoa Zoro. She swiped at the latter's poster with the curved silver knife she kept in her hat brim, and the Straw Hat Pirate's face drifted to the floor lazily in several pieces.

"Clearly I haven't killed the right people yet…" She mused.

She replaced the knife upon her hat brim and started tapping the stones with her boots delicately as she wandered across the room. When her heel made a soft metal echoing sound against the stones, she pointed down beneath her.

"Here."

The Bishop jumped into the air and brought a solid foot down with the force of a cannon blast right upon the spot Lady Rook had just been standing. The floor gave way and both intruders plummeted downwards into the abyss for a few blind seconds before they alighted safely upon their feet on hard-packed earth.

"Who's there?" A deep, haggard voice came from the darkness just ahead of them.

Lady Rook struck a match and the voice hissed in anguish.

"I have not seen the light in so long…" It croaked as if choking on sharp stones. There came the sound of dusty chains rattling as the mysterious creature shifted its weight.

Lady Rook raised the match and for the first time noticed the stone walls surrounding them. There were dozens of short spears protruding from them that had been driven deep into the rock face at every angle.

No…. She thought as she raised the match higher. Not dozens….

The shadows crisscrossed themselves in an endless spiderweb pattern as she took in the harrowing sight.

Several dozen…

Perhaps hundreds…

She kicked at a fallen blunted spear as the match flickered out and noticed that the weapon felt harder than steel and twice as heavy.

"How long has it been since you tasted sea air?" She asked as she struck another match.

The chains rattled.

"How long has Gol D Roger been dead?" The voice replied. It had been an elegant voice once Lady Rook could tell. Refined and luscious, but time lost in the darkness had filed it down to a jagged, hostile rasp.

"Long enough for the lances that speared him to have grown brittle. I feel this is a superfluous request, but can you prove you are who we think you are?" Lady Rook raised an eyebrow.

There was a short pause.

"Stand back." The captive commanded, and there came a clamor of rapidly moving chains and a javelin launched itself from the darkness to spear a slab of rock directly between the two rescuers.

Lady Rook clapped.

"Bishop, I present to you, Juzo Rameses. Eater of the Quill Quill Devil Fruit."

The woman drew her rapiers and twirled them with idle finesse.

"Before a young Dracule Mihawk caught him and the marines imprisoned him here, he was briefly one of the greatest terrors of the Grand Line."

"I've never heard of him before." The Bishop replied simply.

"There's a good reason for that." Lady Rook replied as she took a step closer towards the bound figure and bent forward to look him in the eye.

"I don't expect you've ever heard of The Chess Piece Pirates?" She asked.

The captive grunted a noncommittal sound.

"In exchange for your service, we're offering you your freedom and a position amongst our crew."

The captive stood slowly with a rattle of chains and from the shadows, Lady Rook detected the first traces of a hopeful glint in the man's fiery red eyes.

"Free me, and I will spear your enemies together and stain the soil with their blood."

Lady Rook slashed at the chains with her swords and the harsh metal shattered like glass and fell in defeated fragments upon the ground.

"Welcome aboard. How would you feel about being referred to as… _Knight?"_

* * *

_"SANJI! WHERE'S THE MEAT?!"_

The lanky blonde chef sighed as he casually flicked his hair out of his eyes and sprinkled garnish upon the fish he was preparing over the stove.

"He _knows_ I'm cooking fish… He _knows_ because all he brings me to cook is fish… He _knows_ the only thing he's going to catch out here is fish… Why is he asking me about _MEAT?"_

He grumbled out loud to the tiny reindeer in the large red top hat that sat at the far end of the table, referring to their belligerent and constantly starving adolescent captain.

"I think he dreamed we had meat and has forgotten he's awake." The reindeer known as Chopper replied simply as he flipped through the large medical text on the table in front of him with his cloven hooves.

_"SANJI! MEAT!" _Captain Monkey D Luffy's persistent screeching came again from outside on deck.

Sanji ignored him and flipped the tender piece of sea bass over in the skillet and doused it with a splash of white wine. "Nami's piece…" He cooed and did a quick twirl on his toes. "Robin prefers red wine with her fish. How untraditional and exotic…" He beamed as he balanced the girls' plates in either hand and set them on the table.

"What do the others like?" Chopper raised an eyebrow.

"Who cares?" Sanji huffed. "They'll eat what I give them."

He pulled his cigarette from behind his ear and lit it with a quick flourish of his silver lighter and turned to face the porthole as he exhaled the smoke blossom away from the food. "Nami enjoyed the last dish so much she asked for seconds…" Sanji nearly swooned remembering the look of satisfaction on their navigator's gorgeous face.

He straightened his tie and adjusted his suit jacket before turning back to face Chopper. "I hope she asks for dessert today. I've got something…." He trailed off.

Leaning against the dining room table, a delicate hand inches away from the plate he had just set down was a slim, tanned woman with long emerald-green hair. A small silver anchor charm hung from the end of her ponytail like a tassel, and her navy-blue sundress and thigh-high boots almost seemed to shine with a wondrous hue of their own. Her golden-brown eyes locked with Sanji's and she idly plucked the smoke from his mouth.

"Those are bad for you…" She winked as she placed it to her own ruby lips and inhaled. Even the way the smoke escaped from between her ivory teeth was sensual. Everything about her was _radiant_…

Sanji scowled, thoroughly unimpressed. "Give me that…" He took the cigarette back.

"What's that?" Chopper looked up. His eyes expanded to the size of watermelons and suddenly he was shrieking, his tiny cloven hooves high in the air.

_"WAAAHHH! WHO IS SHE?! HOW DID SHE GET IN HERE?!" _

His head started jerking back and forth furiously, examining the galley for any signs of a hidden compartment she may have just emerged from.

"Have you missed me?" She smirked.

"Move." Sanji pointed to the dish by her hand. "That's Nami's spot."

The young woman leaned forward towards him and away from the table.

"Who's Nami?" She raised an eyebrow.

"How did you find me?" Sanji ignored her question.

_"HELP! LUFFY!"_ Chopper wailed from behind them, hiding behind his chair awkwardly with most of his body out in the open.

"Ugh, that beaver thing is noisy. Can we talk somewhere else?" The woman tipped her head in Chopper's direction.

"Not too far." Sanji shrugged. "I need to finish cooking for my crew."

_"ZORO! ROBIN! USOPP! SHE'S KIDNAPPING SANJI!" _ Chopper sprinted out of the galley with his arms flailing wildly and his eyes bugging out and nearly collided with Nami as she climbed the steps from the outer deck.

"Hey! Easy Chopper! What's with all the screaming?" She exclaimed as she bent forward attempting to calm the reindeer. From the deck below, Luffy and Usopp, who had been arguing over who's turn it was to sit in the mast's shadow as they fished, abruptly stopped and glanced upwards towards the commotion.

"Hey Chopper! Is dinner ready?" Luffy's stomach roared.

_"SHE KIDNAPPED SANJI! THAT GREEN-HAIRED WOMAN! SHE CALLED ME A BEAVER!" _

"What green-haired woman?" Nami started. "Is there someone else on board?"

Chopper ducked behind Nami and planted his hooves into her lower back, shoving her forcefully into the galley so fast she nearly pitched forward onto the floor. There was no one there.

_"Wha?" _ Chopper's jaw hit the floor.

"Sanji?" Nami called out irritated. "Quit scaring our reindeer!"

She paused as she glanced at the oven and suddenly her stomach dropped. For as long as Sanji had been with the crew she had never once known him to leave the room while the burners were still on. The smallest of fires on a pirate ship could lead to the ruin of them all. She walked forward and shut off the stove.

"Sanji?" She tried calling him again. Nami wasn't used to him not immediately appearing by her side, all adoring smiles and eager to please when she summoned him.

Luffy launched himself through the door to the galley like a ballistic rubber frog.

"Let's eat!" He cheered.

"_WHERE'D THEY GO? SHE TOOK SANJI!" _ Chopper howled.

"Who was here Chopper?" Nami asked, squatting down to look their tiny ship's physician in the eye. "Who was the green-haired woman?"

"She appeared out of nowhere!" Chopper waved his tiny arms frantically. "And Sanji knew her! He didn't even go _duuuuhhhhhh_…" Chopper made his eyes bug out in lustful affection and mimicked Sanji's slack-jawed hypnotized look Nami was more than familiar with.

"Wait… There was a strange beautiful woman _here_, in _this_ room, and he _didn't _start pining and drooling?" Nami stared at Chopper in agitated confusion, running her fingers through her orange hair in alarm as Usopp and Robin entered the galley.

Chopper furiously shook his head back and forth so hard his hat nearly flew off.

"What is it?" Robin asked, noticing the look on her face.

"Someone's on the ship, and Sanji may be in trouble." Nami stood up straight. "Usopp, go wake up Zoro. We've got to search the ship."

Nami, Robin, Usopp and Chopper double-timed it out of the galley as Luffy continued to stuff his face.

"Hey, Sanji! This is great!" He beamed.

* * *

Sanji stood on the bow of a strange ship surrounded by six pirates, three marines, and his captor, the exquisite green-haired beauty known as Marion Colfax. Each of the pirates had a green scarf draped around their necks and the marines stood at attention by the mast, each stone-faced and quiet.

"What is going on?" Sanji exclaimed.

"I transported us," Marion replied simply as she let go of his forearm.

"I'm aware of that!" Sanji snapped.

Long before he had known her, Marion had taken a single bite from a Devil Fruit as a child before the melon had been knocked from her hand by her horrified mother and had fallen into the sea. While the power level of a Devil Fruit eater tended to thrive when at a distance from water, Marion's power excelled the closer she was to it. Seawater at least. As long as the salt-water air was in her lungs, she could transport herself with ease from one ship to another as simply as snapping her fingers. With enough concentration, she could transport others a short distance along with her if she physically made contact with them.

Back at the floating restaurant Baratie in the East Blue, she had often used her ability to sneak aboard the ship after hours where Sanji would delight in cooking private meals for her which they would share via candlelight. He had often wondered what the extent of her powers could have been if she had eaten the entire Devil Fruit.

"Where are we?" Sanji asked, forcing his voice to remain calm. "Why are there marines aboard a pirate ship?"

Marion held her hand out towards her men. "Spyglass."

One of the green scarf pirates handed her a telescope and she, in turn, passed it to him. She pointed out towards the horizon.

"There's your ship." She reassured him.

Sanji raised the spyglass up to his eye to verify. Sure enough, he could see Zoro passed out asleep up in the crow's nest while Usopp furiously poked at him attempting to wake him up.

"We've been following in your wake for over an hour," Marion said. "The whole while he's been asleep. Honestly, a rock with painted-on eyes would make a better lookout."

Sanji lowered the telescope. "Moss head..." He glowered.

"Sanji!" A second voice came from behind him and he turned as he heard approaching footsteps coming from across the deck. A young woman with short dark hair and glasses sporting a pristine marine uniform came forward, her Katana fastened firmly at her side.

"Do you remember me? I'm-"

"_TASHIGI!"_ Sanji exclaimed with wild excitement as both his hands flew up to his heart and he nearly glided over to her, immediately going down on one knee before her.

"_How could I forget you oh noble angel of the high seas? You remembered me! Oh, how I love you so, sweet cherub!" _He nearly sang.

Marion sighed. "There's the Sanji I remember."

Tashigi pursed her lips and gave him a cold look. "Sanji, I'm a Naval Officer and you're a member of one of the most notorious pirate gangs on the Grand Line with a bounty on your head of over seventy million berries. Now's not a great time for charm. Stand up. We need to talk."

Recognizing the urgency in her voice Sanji reluctantly conceded and stood. He relit his dying cigarette. "You have my full attention."

"You asked why a handful of Marines are standing aboard a pirate ship and no one is cuffed or bleeding?" Tashigi asked.

"I had wondered, yeah." Sanji nodded.

"The Black Clover Pirates are temporarily allying themselves with a handful of Marines for our mutual protection." Marion gestured to her group. "We're in over our heads though. We need your help."

"Black Clover Pirates?" Sanji asked.

Marion and each of the green-scarfed men folded their left ear forward to reveal a hidden clover tattooed on the side of their heads.

"Never heard of you." Sanji shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, there aren't many of us left," Marion replied and folded her arms. "Not long ago we had a small armada of eight ships across the Grand Line. Most of them are at the bottom of the sea now, their entire crews with them."

Tashigi unrolled a parchment and handed it to Sanji. "This is from twenty years ago. Have you ever heard of Juzo Rameses?"

Sanji flicked the ash from his cigarette and examined the wanted poster. The face of the man staring back at him was horrific. Under what seemed like more than a dozen scars crisscrossing across his face, the sunken cheeks and crooked fangs made him appear more mutant than human. The eyes were barely two specks of red hidden underneath a massive brow. The skin was the color of sandpaper and looked twice as rough. From under the massive Amish-style, wide-brimmed hat hung hardened black narrow shards of what he suspected was hair.

"What happened to this guy?" Sanji asked as he handed the poster back to the Marine.

"A lot." She replied. "Two weeks ago, he was broken out of his secret prison by the Chess Piece Pirates. Together they've been destroying every Navy ship that stands in their way as they hunt down the Black Clover Pirates."

"Why them?"

"An old grudge," Marion replied. "He has Devil Fruit abilities. His body produces razor-sharp quills the length of my arm that he can launch with deadly speed and accuracy. His skin is all but completely impenetrable and though you can't tell by looking at the picture, he's about eight feet tall."

Sanji tossed his hair. "So, what has this got to do with me or my crew? In fact, why couldn't Tashigi have just asked to board our ship and address all of us together?"

Marion crossed her arms. "I don't know the other Straw Hats and I don't trust them, but I trust the man who fed me all those years ago when I was starving."

Sanji gritted his teeth, nearly causing the cigarette to break in two. "And how did you repay me? By betraying me."

Marion stared back without blinking, her face expressionless except for a hint of sorrow in the corner of her eyes.

Sanji turned to Tashigi. "Seriously, why involve the Straw Hats at all? The Navy must have the strength to capture this guy alone."

Tashigi sighed. "It's more complicated than that. Most of the Navy and the World Government think Rameses is dead. If word spread not only that he has been alive this whole time but he's also roaming free, there would be chaos and mutiny amongst the ranks."

"Ok, say we were actually willing to help." Sanji tried. "If this Rameses guy has Devil Fruit powers, then Luffy is the one you want. You were there when he defeated Crocodile single-handedly."

Tashigi shook her head and adjusted her glasses.

"Singling you out was our last resort. Smoker took a huge risk sending me with Marion to find you, but he specifically ordered that Luffy not be involved. He tends to attract a lot of attention, and the Navy can't be seen showing any leniency to the Straw Hats again. Not after Alabasta."

Sanji shrugged. "For such a mighty organization, you sure allow your hands to be bound pretty tight. Anyway, the answer's no. I don't go anywhere without my Captain or crew, and even if I wanted to, I couldn't take this guy on my own."

"The World Government put a bounty on your head that's higher than most Devil Fruit Pirates!" Marion exclaimed. "I remember your endless Black-Foot style training. You must be one of the deadliest men on the Grand Line who can actually swim!"

Sanji exhaled a plume of smoke. "Amongst my friends, sure, we're strong enough to handle most anything. Alone, our strength is diminished. I'm not abandoning them. Besides, I'm a cook, not a mercenary."

Tashigi sighed. She took a step forward and playfully twirled Sanji's hair and tickled his chin as she doted upon him with an alluring look.

"Please?"

For a solid five seconds Sanji's eyes lit up and he was nearly lifted off the ground by the force of his legs shuddering, but he slapped himself and regained his composure.

"To my everlasting regret, no. Not even for you Tashigi."

He turned and walked to the bow of the ship and started to remove his jacket and tie.

"I'll just swim back."

"Sanji!" Marion called out, and he noticed the familiar quiver in her voice that he hadn't heard in years. Suddenly they were back in Baratie's kitchen. Her eyes were wide and terrified as his hand encircled her throat…

"We won't survive without your help. I saved your life…" She pleaded.

"And I've already saved yours in return." He responded dully without turning around. "That debt has been repaid."

"You _spared_ mine… There's a difference…" She replied, her voice cracking.

Sanji sighed. As much as he wanted to, he knew he didn't have the fortitude to turn his back on a woman in need. Even if it was her. He slowly turned to face her.

"Why is he after you and the Black Clover Pirates? You have two minutes."

* * *

_Twenty-four years ago, _

Marine Captain Juzo Rameses refilled his chalice with burgundy and raised it to toast his guests from the head of the long table. When he spoke, his voice tickled the ears of all assembled with a soft yet stimulating tone.

"My friends, fellow marines and dignitaries from across the four seas. After several long years, we have finally accomplished our daunting objective. The Port of Damocles will serve as a shining beacon to future generations that in collaboration with The World Government, these once lawless seas overrun with brigands will be tamed, charted and supervised under one flag, ensuring our safety, stability, and prosperity."

He took a carefully measured drink from his chalice while his guests applauded his words. The officer on his immediate right stood before the hubbub died and raised his own glass in proclamation.

"And to our prestigious host, Captain Rameses, who, after a brief yet undeniably lucrative tenure, has eliminated the remaining pirate threat from the Grand Line. Finally, with the capture and deportation of the sinister criminal Gol D Roger, the last of their kind will fade into the darkest abyss of history, and an age of civilization and order will thrive. To our retiring commander!"

Most of the guests stood and applauded even harder as Ramses took a bow. The golden cufflinks upon his crimson jacket catching the light and reflecting a twinkle in his dark eyes which were nearly as identical in color to his outfit.

After the meal was over Rameses stood on the balcony of his manor overlooking the newly completed port where several dozen Navy ships were anchored. As usual, he wore his wide-brimmed Parson's hat instead of the traditional Marine cap. The crisp night breeze caught the long elegant dark hair cascading down his back like it would a woman's silken scarf. He inhaled deep from his cigar and beckoned his comrade forward with a wave of his gloved hand.

"Come Finley…" He gestured as he exhaled a plume of silver smoke. "I only have a few of these left, and I'd be distraught if any of them went to waste. They're the finest from last year's harvest on the Summer Islands in the South Blue."

"You always had a taste for the most refined pleasures," Finley responded as he allowed Rameses to light the offered cigar for him.

"I appreciate your words during dinner." The Captain snapped the lighter shut. "I suppose I should enjoy the praise while I can get it. Retirement rarely offers opportunities for future recognition."

Finely guffawed. "Retirement? You're still a young man. Only five years in command of your own ship and you've decided to pack it in? You'll be back when they offer you a Vice Admiral's position and your own armada."

Rameses shook his head. "My dreams have been fulfilled. The Grand Line has been won by the World Government, therefore allowing the corners of the map to be filled in and this beautiful haven you see before you has been finished ahead of schedule, connecting thousands of people in a way they never otherwise would have assembled."

"It's a miraculous port." Finley agreed. "It's a shame so many fine men had to die in order to secure a foothold here."

"Every drop of Marine blood was avenged." Rameses leaned his arms against the stone railing. "The Black Clover Pirates thought they could defy the momentum of history, and to their credit, they battled hard and long, nearly to the last man, but I always knew when I saw this island it was where I would establish a new colony and retire in peace. My contribution to the future."

The bustling harbor below them echoed with the raucous laughter of the people and the joyful songs played by the various musicians on their respective street corners. Everyone was happy. All words spoken were in kindness.

"Tell me, Finley… Wasn't this worth the bloodshed? The loss of our fallen friends?" Juzo Rameses almost whispered.

Finley thought of their comrades who had perished during the naval battle Rameses had led to this harbor when the Black Clover Pirates made their last stand. Captain Godfrey had been a noble and selfless man with seven children, the last of whom he had never met, who had devoted his life to the idyllic belief that all could live in peace together on the sea. Captain Corvos had been a young man, a captain of his own vessel for only a few weeks and a masterful painter but had followed in Rameses's wake into battle without hesitation.

The hardest had been Captain Mallet. She had been offered the position of Admiral while out at sea, the first woman of such rank assigned to the Grand Line, and had she decided to return home and accept the position would have doubtless been one of the finest commanders upon the open water, but instead had set her sights on securing the future and obtaining the island from savage pirate hands with Rameses.

None of their bodies had been recovered after their ships had disappeared under the surface of the bloody tide that fateful day.

"Their sacrifice won us the Grand Line." Rameses continued without waiting for Finley's answer. "I would argue twice the carnage, twice the deaths, would have been worth this. The promise of a peaceful, prosperous tomorrow."

Finley watched the Captain confidently spin the cigar between his long fingers.

"I fear there will always be bloodshed, Juzo…" Finley responded. "Before long someone may attempt to take the Port of Damocles for themselves. It's the nature of humanity."

"Not under my watch," Rameses replied. "Perhaps the weaker ones who come after me…"

"Surely you've heard of these supposed cursed fruits that have already made their first appearance on the Grand Line?" Finley raised an eyebrow. "The rumor is they give people unnatural power. Horrifying, near-unstoppable abilities. If the accounts are true, and these individuals multiply, how will any of us be able to anticipate what is to come? Surely It's not just a matter of strength and weakness?"

Rameses crushed the stub of his burning cigar down on top of an ant crawling across the stone railing.

"It will always about strength and weakness. I've heard of those fruits you speak of. They're an abomination of nature, but I assure you, they will only destroy those who are foolish enough to enchant themselves with their spells. They are simply devices for the weak to try and elevate themselves. The Navy will never allow itself to be seduced by them and mark my words, men such as myself will never taste them either."

Rameses' long cloak caught the breeze during the next few moments of cold silence. The Captain eventually yawned. "If you'll excuse me, Finley, I'm retiring for the evening. My books are calling me. I'll meet you at breakfast in the main hall tomorrow."

"Good night Captain," Finley responded simply as the departing footsteps echoed down the stone passage. After another moment the bell tower sounded, announcing the hour, and Finley could never recall a time when the chiming of bells on such a peaceful night had sounded quite so ominous.

* * *

Finley was sharing a nightcap with two of his shipmates, Iro and Jacobi, in one of the many seaside bars when a thunderous crash echoed from across the harbor. The three men leapt to their feet and sprinted outside to discover one of the trading ships entering the port in the darkness had crashed into a moored ship and both were now taking on water. Sailors from both vessels were leaping over the sides attempting to escape the wreck.

"Quick!" Finley instructed his men. "Get boats in the water and rescue those men! Alert the guards to close the harbor to prevent any further collisions! I'll go alert Captain Rameses."

Finley and his men sprinted off in three different directions as the screams from out on the water echoed down the stone alleyways of the surrounding streets. Finley launched himself up the main steps, past the gate and into the Captain's main foyer.

"The Captain isn't in his chambers!" Came the butler's voice from upstairs, who was clearly aware of the commotion upon the water.

"He mentioned his books, perhaps he's in the library!" Finley gasped for air and sprinted down the hall. He entered the elegant library without knocking. Inside, the spacious archive was adorned with an ornate fireplace, leather armchairs and rows of wooden bookshelves nearly buckling under the weight of the thousands of texts they held.

"Juzo!" Finley cried out, but no reply came from amongst the stacks.

He was about to call out again when he paused. Despite the warmth of the fire raging under the mantlepiece, there was a chill in the air he couldn't account for. He turned and noticed a narrow space between one of the shelves and the wall. A blast of cold air hit his face again as he approached the opening. It was a secret passage, and based on the frigid temperature, it led outside the mansion.

Seizing his own pocket lighter from his jacket he raised the tiny flame above his head and ventured down into the tunnel, desperate to find the port's overseer and inform him of the accident.

After several minutes the tunnel narrowed, and Finley began to recognize the layered brick of the old fort that sat out by the cliffs overlooking the ocean that the Black Clover Pirates had once used as a lookout shelter. As far as he knew, it had been abandoned since their defeat.

When the passage ended, he slipped past a dusty threadbare tapestry and into a stone corridor with weeds growing up between the cracks in the floor beneath him. He extinguished his own lighter and made for the firelight originating from the entryway of the room farthest from where he stood.

"Captain?" He spoke aloud before he entered, but once inside the room, his jaw fell open in horror. A row of cells with rusty steel bars lined the walls on both sides of the room, and by the flickering torchlight, he could see that each one was occupied by a crumpled figure.

"Juzo?" Finley cried as he walked down the center aisle and peered between the bars into each cell. His stomach sank as he discovered most of the withered, obviously dead bodies were clothed in the tattered remains of Marine uniforms. Based on the cobwebs attached to the bones crisscrossing the cells from all angles, they had been there for quite some time.

Finley paused. Inside one of the cells was a corpse clutching a child's ribbon to its chest, and despite the gloom, he recognized the pale pink color. It had belonged to one of Godfrey's children. In the cell across from that a large navy vessel had been expertly painted onto the brick wall using various shades of mud. The skeletal corpse in that cell was smaller had a makeshift paintbrush in its clawed hand made from hair and bone. The final cell held the corpse of what had clearly once been a woman, her hands clenched around the bars as if even in her final moments she was attempting to tear them down and escape to freedom.

"Godfrey? Corvos? Mallet?" Finley whispered in petrified shock.

From behind him one of the corpses coughed and Finley spun around. Inside the gloom of the cell, a pale figure with a clover tattooed across his bare chest reached out towards Finley with broken fingers.

"He killed the children… The families that surrendered… He used his cannons…"

Finley raised his lighter again and knelt towards the bars to better hear the rambling prisoner.

"Are you a pirate? A Black Clover Pirate?" He demanded. "Who did this?"

"This was our island… We brokered a truce… He… slaughtered them all… Sank our ships… pillaged our villages…"

"Who did?!" Finley exclaimed.

The man lurched forward, and Finley noticed for the first time the bleeding stumps where the man's legs had, until very recently, been attached.

"He… kept me alive… to feed my legs… to his guests…"

The sound of a gunshot cracked over Finley's head and the pirate's face exploded into a pulp of blood and bone. The body pitched backwards and slammed into the wall with a wet thud.

Finley turned right before the revolver came down hard across his temple and he hit the cold ground, blood staining his vision.

Juzo Rameses set the pistol down upon a small wooden table where stained surgical tools and knives lay discarded on a metal tray.

"Oh Finley… I wish you had gone to bed." The man spoke solemnly.

"You killed them all…" Finley snarled as he attempted to raise himself up onto his knees. "You said the Black Clover Pirates attacked our fleet. You said you had no choice but to return fire…"

Rameses wasn't looking at his friend, but rather at one of the dancing flames atop the torch mounted onto the wall. His wide-brimmed hat cast a malicious shadow down across the eyes, so only the faintest red points of reflected light were visible.

"They were pirates Finley. Drunkards and thieves who were scavenging off the surrounding islands. They were living a self-destructive lifestyle that wouldn't have benefitted anyone, not even themselves. You should have seen their families. Their children playing in filth, the wives whoring themselves out upon the docks. They offered to divide the island with the Navy in exchange for their lives."

Rameses' eyes grew hard and his brow furrowed. "As if we could live alongside their kind."

"You killed the other captains Juzo… You held them in cells… they were your friends…"

Juzo shrugged. "I needed our side to take heavy casualties so I could muster the strength needed to annihilate these animals. Yes, I killed the crews, sank their ships, but it was all for the greater good. I tried to reason with the captains. I tried to make them understand. They could have been heroes, but none of them wanted to comply."

Juzo didn't even glance at his fellow dead officers as he spoke. "I didn't kill them. They allowed themselves to die. I sent compensation to their families."

"_You… you… MURDERER! CRIMINAL!" _ Finley bellowed. "_What have you done?"_

Juzo smirked. "I've paved the way to a brighter future. There will be order and harmony now, thanks to the sacrifices of so many."

Rameses knelt and grabbed Finley around the throat. "I'm a fair man Lieutenant. I could kill you, but I won't. You will be given the same opportunity they had." He unlocked the dead pirate's cell. "Take as much time as you need."

Suddenly blood exploded from the Captain's shoulder and he cried out in pain and leapt to his feet, causing his hat to fly off and land upon the dusty cobblestones.

Finley noticed Iro and Jacobi standing by the doorway, Jacobi with his flint pistol out, in the process of reloading it.

"Stand down Captain!" Iro called out in fury.

Juzo Rameses staggered, and as he attempted to steady himself by leaning against the table he knocked over the metal tray, sending the instruments clattering to the floor.

"_You, miserable ingrates!"_ He snarled as he made his way towards them, pulling a curved blade out from under his jacket.

Jacobi scrambled to finish reloading the pistol but despite being wounded the towering man was nearly upon them. He roared as he raised the knife but collapsed as Finley fired another shot dead between his shoulder blades with the Captain's own fallen weapon.

"Bind him! Quick!" Finley gasped before his legs buckled beneath him and he fell forward upon the ground.

* * *

When Rameses opened his eyes the light of a harsh blood-red sunrise was prying itself under his eyelids. He tried to raise himself into a sitting position but found that his hands were handcuffed behind him around his belt.

The sound of tide striking the shore was as loud as cannon fire and the salty air threatened to choke him as it fought its way past his parched lips.

"Water…" He muttered.

His shoulder and torso were heavily bandaged, but he could still feel the pain from the raw bleeding flesh from where he had been shot burning him like molten metal.

Finley bent over him and extended a cannister to his lips which he accepted carefully.

"Where am I?" Juzo asked, noticing the blood-stained bandage wrapped around his friend's temple.

"The west side of the island," Finley replied simply.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Nearly six hours." The man said somberly.

As Juzo's eyes adjusted the blurry smudges of foreign objects in the distance began to come into focus. There was a ship approaching. A ship with a Black Clover upon its flag.

"Finley!" Rameses spat. "If you do this, it will all have been for nothing! All those brave men will have died in vain. The Port will forever be tarnished, and it will struggle and collapse under the savagery of my actions. The pirates will return and multiply with an enraged vengeance against the Navy! Don't allow the future we have built to fail!"

Finley pulled the last of the South Blue cigars from his jacket and breathed in the fragrance.

"You're right Juzo. That's why, aside from our men here on the island, only the most senior officers will ever know what you've done. The people will assume you sailed away into the night to live out your retirement in peace."

Juzo glanced out at the ocean again and noticed several figures had left the ship and were now rowing ashore.

"Just kill me Finley… I'm owed an honorable death. Don't give me to them."

Finley lit the cigar.

"Juzo…" He paused as he exhaled the richly scented smoke, taking a moment to choose his words carefully.

"You massacred women and children. You held your fellow officer's captive and let them starve. You tortured a pirate to the point of insanity. All that, in a repulsive, yet rational type of way can I understand your motives."

He turned to his former friend and met his dark red eyes.

"But what I can't understand is why you fed us the flesh of that man?"

Juzo stared back at him in silence, his eyes not yielding even an inch.

"I think you enjoy violence Juzo. I don't think you'll ever stop. That's why you aren't owed anything. That's why I'm giving you to them."

Juzo Rameses didn't utter another sound as eight men approached them. Four were Naval Officers, the rest were pirates, each with a black clover tattoo somewhere on their person.

The tallest of the pirates stepped forward and kicked Juzo in the stomach.

"I'm Captain Grillo of the Flagship "_Nightmare Song". _You destroyed my home, annihilated my people, and tortured and ate my brother."

The dark man bent down to look Juzo in the eye. "You thought you killed us all? You were wrong."

The disgraced captain refused to respond to the pirate's words.

"You're going to beg us to put out your eyes, so you won't have to watch us cut into you."

Grillo stood. "Take him!"

His men marched forward and began to drag the man down away towards the beach.

Finley accepted the sack of gold the Pirate Captain offered him.

"This is a secret we take to the seafloor," Finley spoke aloud, his tone lost somewhere between content and ashamed.

"You have my word and the word of my crew." Grillo tipped his hat. "Good evening gentlemen."

The man turned and followed his men back towards the sea.

Finley dropped the unfinished cigar down into the sand and looked at each of the marines gathered around him. "We will never speak of this again."

Each officer nodded his head silently.

* * *

Finley awoke later that morning and took his tea out on the balcony at Rameses' manor. Fortunately, no one had died after the collision of ships the previous evening, but a handful had been severely wounded, and several tons of food and dry goods had been lost to the sea. Finley's hand trembled slightly as he lowered the cup back down onto the saucer.

At least no one had been killed. No more innocent blood had been spilled.

The butler stepped out into the crisp sea air.

"Sir, there's a young man from High Command here to see you."

"Regarding Captain Rameses?" Finley asked.

"I expect so sir." The man replied.

"Thank you. Send him up." Finley instructed.

He turned out to face the port again. He had sent a message to the High Admirals back at Navy Headquarters after Rameses was arrested, informing them of the real fate of their deceased captains and the treachery of their overseer. They would be sending men to the port today to collect the remains of the bodies. Whoever this current visitor was, he must have been sent the moment the somber news had reached them.

"Where is he?"

Finley started and turned in his seat. He hadn't heard the young man walk out onto the balcony, and he indeed _was_ a young man. Barely more than a child. Despite his age he spoke with authority and wore an immaculately clean tailored suit. His dark eyes were as unyielding as tidal waves and they never blinked once as Finley stared back into them.

He stood shakily.

"Lieutenant Finley Sir. I'm sorry, I wasn't informed of your name."

"Rob Lucci." The boy responded without emotion. "Again, where is he?"

"Captain Rameses Sir?"

Finley took the boy's stone-cold silence as an affirmative.

"He died of his wounds early this morning," Finley responded after only a moment's hesitation.

"Where's the body?" Lucci asked immediately.

He felt the boy's eyes boring themselves into him, seeking to expose what he had to suspect was a lie.

"We buried him out at sea at sunrise. Out on the west side of the island. Just a handful of us officers. I can show you the spot and give you the names."

For another terrifying handful of moments, the young man named Lucci just stared at Finley without speaking or reacting, as if waiting to spot the man's nervous tell and use it to dissect the false narrative. The breeze brushed a wisp of hair into the young man's eye, but he still didn't blink.

"You've been promoted to Captain, Lieutenant." Lucci finally spoke aloud, and despite the calmness of his tone and volume, Finley's heart nearly burst in sudden shock and fear.

"Report to Navy Headquarters in two days to give a full and detailed report," Lucci said before turning his back and leaving the balcony.

"Thank you, sir… Mr. Lucci." Finley responded breathlessly as he collapsed back into his chair.

As Lucci made to close the door behind him, he paused.

"If you're lying to me, Captain…" He spoke without turning back around, "You'd better hope I find Rameses before I find you…"

* * *

Captain Grillo descended the stairs into the belly of his ship as the lanterns swayed precariously on their hooks. The wind had picked up and they had entered a particularly bad patch of sea. He maneuvered his way through the rows of empty hammocks before he reached the small lavatory they had converted into a cell for their guest. The lone crewmember assigned to watch the door stood at attention as his captain approached.

"Has he eaten anything?" Grillo asked.

"Nothing for nearly a week Captain." The man replied. "He's intent on starving himself to death."

Grillo pulled a pair of pliers from his pocket.

"That's not for him to decide. He hasn't suffered enough yet."

The ship pitched sideways, and several rows of stacked cargo tilted precariously as the men staggered and attempted to keep their balance.

"Open the door," Grillo commanded.

The sailor complied by unlocking the small wooden compartment and Grillo raised a lantern over his head as he stepped inside. It reeked of feces in the small space and no natural light of any kind had been able to locate this irrelevant nook from the world outside.

Bound with three layers of chains, the emaciated Juzo Rameses covered his face with his hands to prevent the light from assaulting his eyes. Grillo kicked the man in the chest and the former Marine choked out a haggard cough as he doubled over and curled into a fetal position.

"You think you've been down here long? There are good men who've been pulled breathing from the sea after a longer spell." Grillo scowled in a booming voice to drown out the sounds of the creaking ship around them. "It's true I've lost count of the weeks, but I won't be satisfied until myself and every man under my command has lost track of the years."

Rameses peered up at him from the foul-smelling gloom, his red eyes forlorn yet unapologetic and irritatingly unafraid. The man's face was a roadmap of scars where they had cut away at his flesh and peeled away strips from his brow and cheeks. Several of his fingers and toes had been amputated and both of his ears had been hacked off, yet the man continued attempting to remain dignified every time the blades fell upon him. The only reason Grillo had not removed his tongue yet was because he was hoping to truly break the man and make him scream in anguish long into the night.

"Do you think because you're not eating, we'll let you die?" Grillo bent forward and grabbed the man's gaunt face. "I won't let starvation take you so easily. Open your mouth or I'll cut a hole in your neck and force-feed the wound."

He pried the man's mouth open with the pliers and stuffed a rotten tomato past his remaining teeth and down his throat. "_I_ decide your fate Juzo…"

The former Marine hacked up bile as he tried to fight back but clearly didn't have strength enough. Grillo looked back towards the guard. "Hand me one of those potato sacks."

The guard turned around to locate the crate filled with potatoes, but the inventory had been tossed about so haphazardly by the sea he couldn't locate them. Food and supplies were scattered about like debris after a hurricane.

He bent forward and picked up a single spiked fruit wrapped in foil and handed it to Grillo.

"Have him eat this whole, Captain. That pointy bastard should tear up his throat something awful."

Grillo took the misshapen plumb and squeezed it tight in his fist, the spikes pricking the flesh of his palm and causing blood to flow down his wrist along with the juice. Again, he pried open the man's mouth mercilessly shoved the sharpened fruit over his tongue and held his nose closed until the man was forced to chew just to allow air to pass through to his lungs. He coughed up blood and bits of soggy fruit as the spikes cut into his gums.

"Captain!" A man called urgently from the deck above. "Man overboard! Portside!"

Grillo immediately stood and handed the guard the pliers.

"Watch him." Grillo commanded. "I'll be back."

The guard shut the door behind him and cast the prisoner back into complete darkness again. He heard the starving man hacking and gagging as he painfully tried to ingest the fruit without choking.

_Where had such a strange fruit come from?_ He thought absentmindedly. He was sure he had never seen such a thing upstairs in the ship's galley. Then he paused. He bent forward to examine the container where he had found the foil-covered fruit. Inside were a half dozen silver medallions and ivory pieces they had looted from a merchant ship several months back. They had intended on trading the crate for barrels of food and rum next time they put into port. Why had that fruit been so valuable?

Suddenly from the room behind him, he heard their captive begin to cry out in agonizing pain like he was being lowered into a raging fire. The chains rattled furiously as they were tossed about, and then there came the earsplitting sounds of dull popping, like metal giving way and shattering. The man's roars of pain became deeper, more animalistic, and far more enraged.

The guard took several steps back towards the stairway as he felt the reverberations of the man slamming his bulk against the wooden walls.

"Captain…" He croaked out in panic.

Suddenly the noises behind the door ceased, and for the briefest few moments, he thought it was over. The lantern he held high in his hand suddenly sputtered and died. Then came the sound of the door being ripped from its hinges…

* * *

Finley lay amongst the wreckage of his decimated flagship. His fallen crew were scattered in broken heaps amongst the sharp rocks where the ship had capsized. None of them moved. He was completely alone.

He made an awkward attempt to stand but suddenly realized that recovery was a forgone conclusion. He could no longer feel his legs. The sea water washed up around his chest as the tide began to come in. He doubted he would live long enough to drown.

After another minute a single figure made his way across the sand towards him. He was the same man who had responded to their distress flare right before the ship collided with the rocks. Right before the slaughter had begun.

The lone man had stepped out of his small boat seemingly completely alone and disappeared into the trees to hunt the beast. After a short while, the furious sounds of battle had ended, and the man had dragged the massive brute from the forest and tied him up upon the beach.

Finley shuddered in relief as he saw bright blood staining the long black blade in the man's hand.

"You cut him…"

"I did…" The man paused as he looked down at the defeated Marine, his hawkish eyes calm despite the terror they had just been forced to stare down.

"No one has ever cut him before…" Finley managed a chuckle. "Is he dead?"

The man shook his head.

"Please…" Finley pleaded. "I made a mistake once leaving him alive. Once I heard what had happened, I tried to correct my mistake."

"Your bigger mistake was only bringing one ship." The man looked out at the wreckage. "You were no match for him alone."

Finley felt the cold creeping up his chest. "I couldn't risk any more lives."

"I'm no executioner." The swordsman knelt beside him. "There's another Navy ship on the horizon approaching now. I'll make sure he's locked away someplace secure. He has blood on his hands he needs to atone for."

Finley tasted his own blood on his tongue as he coughed. "That's Lieutenant Iro. Tell him my crew died honorably… Make sure their families remember them as heroes…"

The swordsman nodded simply. "What about you?"

He pointed at the massive harpoon-sized quill protruding from Finley's lower gut. "That won't heal…"

Finley shook his head. "Don't let them see me like this."

"Would you like some water?"

Finley nodded. The swordsman pulled a silver chalice from his pocket and filled it from a flask at his hip with cool, fresh water.

"How was Roger's execution?" Finley asked after he had emptied the chalice.

The swordsman blinked. "The age of pirates is finally over…" He lied, choosing not to report to the dying man the Pirate King's last words.

He pulled his Kogatana from the sheath around his neck.

"What is your name?" Finley asked as the blade caught the sunlight.

"Dracule." The man replied.

"Thank you, Dracule," Finley whispered as he shut his eyes.

* * *

Sanji extinguished his fourth cigarette on the railing of the ship as Marion finished speaking. The two minutes he had originally allotted her had expanded to nearly twenty, yet he couldn't bring himself to worry about the time as the story continued and the look in his old friend's eyes grew more and more pained.

"And now he's free again…" Marion gritted her teeth. "It took a man like Dracule Mihawk to put him down the first time. We need a man like that again now."

Sanji brushed ash from his suit jacket. "I'm no Dracule Mihawk. Not even close. I've seen his skills firsthand, and I doubt anything I could do could rival one swing of his sword."

"Sanji, please…" Tashigi adjusted her glasses nervously. "Juzo's obliterated twelve ships since he's escaped, and soon the Navy won't be able to keep these attacks secret any longer. Smoker is already on his way to try to intercept him and so are the remaining Black Clover Pirates, who to their credit could be fleeing across the sea in the opposite direction."

"If it was just our lives at stake we would run," Marion explained. "But once we're all dead he won't stop. He's decimating anyone with loyalty to the World Government and the Navy. I'm not sure what the Chess Piece Pirates' objective is, but they've unleashed a weapon of limitless destruction indiscriminately amongst the innocent and guilty alike. It's our responsibility to prevent any more loss of life."

"We're not asking you to be our savior." Tashigi continued. "We just need your help."

"Why not just find Mihawk and ask him?" Sanji raised a curled eyebrow.

"Oh, gee… Why didn't we think of that, Tashigi?" Marion rolled her eyes and glanced over at the young officer.

Tashigi sighed. "The Warlords are in theory allied with the Navy, but in practice are each their own sovereign. Mihawk especially is almost impossible to keep track of. No one seems to know where he is and there's no definitive proof he's even on the Grand Line. We don't have time to locate him, and none of the other Warlords even know about Rameses. I doubt they'd offer to help even if they did."

Sanji dug his fists into his pockets and stared at the women in silence for a few moments as he considered.

"Again, Luffy is the one you want. He took down one of the Warlords _on his own_. He'll help you if you let me speak to him and the rest of the crew."

"Luffy can't know!" Tashigi insisted. "He's a loose cannon, Sanji! Reckless! Unpredictable! Yes, he defeated Crocodile, but he nearly destroyed a city while doing it! He'd never follow orders! Even if he did, his bounty is so high we'd be forced to arrest him immediately after!"

"Look, do you want to catch this guy and save some lives, or do you want to uphold the fictional glorious reputation of the Navy? Because it sounds to me like you don't have a choice here." Sanji responded with an edge to his voice.

"Glory doesn't come from recognition. It comes from doing the right thing when you are accountable. This is how we make the Navy's reputation less fictional and more glorious." Tashigi countered. "So, no, we don't have a choice, but you do."

Sanji's lifelong code of chivalry clashed heavily against his loyalty for his crew. He had never predicted those two unshakable creeds that had shaped his character would ever be in conflict. One had always seemed to reinforce the other.

"You're tying my hands behind my back." Sanji lit up another cigarette.

"Good thing you're so skilled with your legs," Marion replied with dry humor.

Sanji exhaled an unhappy cloud of smoke.

"I'll do it, but I have conditions."

"Name them." Tashigi nodded, a fresh glimmer of hope in her eye.

"If Luffy is out, then he is _out_. You have to guarantee his safety and the safety of all the others on the ship with him. None of them will enter the line of fire, and after it's all over and you return me to my crew, none of them are to be touched, bounties be damned."

"You have my word. Smoker's as well." Tashigi promised.

"Keep in mind I'm not doing this for the Navy, the Black Clover Pirates, or for you." Sanji pointed to Marion. "I'm doing this for those innocents who are in danger, including my crew, who may encounter this guy one day if you all fail."

"Understood," Marion replied, seemingly unoffended.

Sanji glanced back over his shoulder towards his friends on the horizon.

"You may not like this next condition, but I promise I like it even less."

"What is it?" Marion asked.

Sanji turned back to face them. "Under no circumstances is Luffy to be involved. I understand that. What about the others?"

* * *

Zoro spun his katanas in brilliant fluid motions as he stood alone on the foredeck. Nami had insisted they drop anchor at the nearest island and scour the ship from top to bottom looking for Sanji and the mysterious woman. When no trace of him had been found, Luffy and the others had split into separate parties and went to search the coastline in case another boat was anchored nearby.

He had been assigned to stay behind and guard the ship and he hadn't minded. Once that lanky blonde-haired loon of a chef was finally found, Nami was likely going to tear his limbs off and Zoro didn't need the aggravation of trying to help Chopper save his life. After all, he was far better at spilling blood than staunching wounds.

He twirled the swords in front of him so fast the air whistled as the blades sang. He took a careful step forward, maintaining his balance, and then spun like lightning, the weapon pointed before him in his outstretched arm as still as stone, the tip of the blade an inch away from Sanji's throat.

"Watch it, you idiot!" The chef cried out.

"Where have you been, you moron?" Zoro snarled as he sheathed his swords. "The others are tearing the island apart looking for you!"

Sanji exhaled a tobacco cloud and extinguished his cigarette on the railing.

"Zoro, we need to talk. I need your help."

Zoro was caught off guard for half a second. He couldn't remember the last time Sanji had referred to him by his name instead of a condescending label, and he definitely had never asked for the swordsman's help before.

"What's going on?" He asked cautiously.

"Zoro…" A voice from behind him spoke.

He turned sharply, and his stomach sank as he looked into the eyes of the only person alive who had the power to stop him in his tracks without raising a finger.

Tashigi smiled shyly. "It's good to see you."

* * *

"_HEY ZORO!" _Luffy called out once all of them were back on board the ship. "WAKE UP! WE'RE BACK!"

"He better not have fallen asleep again," Usopp muttered.

Nami walked across the foredeck and glanced up at the crow's nest. "Well, we couldn't take him with us… He would have gotten lost."

She poked her head inside the living room and then peeked down below deck.

"He's not here…" her voice trailed off.

"WHAT?!" The excitable little Reindeer exclaimed. _"Zoro's gone too?! What's happening?!" _He started sprinting from starboard to port and back on his tiny legs.

Robin paused as she joined Nami on the higher deck. Her eyes narrowed.

"Dom Fluer…" She whispered.

A delicate female arm sprung like a flower from topsoil over by the far railing and slowly picked up the butt of an extinguished cigarette between two fingers.

"Sanji was here…" She said with certainty.

Nami walked over and examined the withered smoke in the fingers of Robin's third hand.

"It's bone dry…" She muttered. "He was _just_ here…"

"Hey guys!" Usopp called from inside the galley. He walked back out into the light of sunset and held up a single torn parchment page.

"It's from Sanji! It says to anchor here for three days and he put boxed lunches for us in the fridge. Zoro's signature is on it too!"

"Wait, what?" Nami snatched the message from him and examined it. "They're really gone? They left without saying anything?"

"_Ahhhh!"_ Chopper wailed. _"Why would they leave us like this?"_

Robin glanced at Luffy, whose brow was furrowed with confusion and anger, which were quickly fusing together and evolving into rage. Robin was the most recent addition to the crew, but she knew Zoro and Sanji well enough to understand they would never abandon them without good reason, and if they couldn't even consult with Luffy first, it meant only one thing. The rest of them were in danger, and the two men were doing all they could to protect them.

Robin also knew Luffy well enough to understand, the last place you ever wanted to leave their Captain was safely upon the sidelines…

Luffy raised his arms and screamed upwards into the sky.

"_OI! SANJI! ZORO! GET BACK HERE!" _

70 Page


	2. Chapter 2

**PART TWO: Quills **

Standing aboard the bow of the Black Clover pirate's flagship, the _Cutthroat Bounty,_ the blonde chef and the stone-faced swordsman stood in silence as the salty wind whipped through their hair. Sanji sighed as he attempted unsuccessfully to relight his cigarette despite the breeze making the lighter's small flame dance violently before vanishing. He despondently tossed the paper stick overboard as they sped towards their destination.

"Luffy is never going to forgive us for this…" Zoro muttered with cold certainty. "I wouldn't blame him. Taking off like this without his consent is practically mutiny."

Sanji shrugged. "The first time I met you guys Nami sailed off alone and took Merry with her. We didn't understand it, but there was never any question in Luffy's mind that she was still part of the crew."

"This is different," Zoro replied. "We're sailing into a fight which doesn't involve us. Nami was confronting those who held power over her future."

"Alabasta wasn't our fight either." Sanji stretched his arms wide and instinctively popped a new smoke in his mouth before he even realized it would be pointless to try again.

"We all fought together in Alabasta." Zoro countered.

"Look Moss Head, we can keep arguing until the sun sets, but the fact is, you're right here with me." Sanji crossed his arms. "I'm not proud of leaving the others in the dark, but once we get back and explain the situation they'll understand."

"I should have just knocked you out and tied you to the mast." Zoro glowered.

"Then why didn't you?" Sanji raised a single curly eyebrow.

"I didn't have any rope." He responded without humor.

"I think I know why…" Sanji glanced backwards over his shoulder towards the stern, where Tashigi stood speaking with the other marines. The setting sun cast her in a golden light that made her look even more like an angel than she already did. He knew despite her clumsy behavior that she had a will of steel and the courage of a Pirate Warlord, though her smile as always was humble and shy.

Sanji's eyes widened with passionate yearning and his jaw hung open for several moments as he admired her before Zoro snapped his fingers in the chef's ear to bring him back to reality.

"Stay focused, you moron. If we're heading into battle, I don't need you constantly getting distracted."

Sanji reluctantly returned his gaze back to the open sea before he spoke again.

"Look, I may be a shameless pervert, but just because you're not obvious about it doesn't mean you don't feel anything. There's something about her that makes you lower your shields. I don't know what it is, but it's not just because she's skilled with a blade."

Zoro glared. "Drop it, or I'm putting you over the railing."

"Ah, there's the exposed nerve. Didn't think your armor ever cracked." Sanji smirked. He lowered the unlit cigarette from between his teeth.

The green-haired pirate gave him a withering look and made to leave before the chef spoke again, his eyes still fixed upon the sea.

"Look, Zoro, seriously, whatever your reasons are, I appreciate you being here. I don't know what to expect and if this is what finally kills me, I want to go knowing the others knew what happened and that the ladies will be safe. I needed someone I could trust." He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets.

"You're not going to get killed, you idiot." Zoro wrapped his fist around his katana's handle by his belt. "The smoking will take care of that, but until then, Luffy's going to want to eat as soon as you get back, and you won't be able to use dying as an excuse."

"Are you two having a moment?" Marion asked, suddenly appearing directly between them.

Both men jumped, and Zoro's sword was out and raised to her chin before the words had finished leaving her lips.

"You don't have to transport yourself across the ship!" Sanji snapped and slapped Zoro's blade aside. "Just walk up and join the conversation like a normal person!"

"Normal is so boring," Marion smirked. "Besides, you used to love it when I surprised you."

Sanji cut the abrupt change in conversation off at the knees.

"Did you want something?" He asked bluntly.

"Tashigi just received word from Smoker on the transponder snail. He's got two Marine ships en route to Russet Peak where my other two ships are set to meet us. With five ships we can lay out a plan of attack and sail just across the bay to the old Marine fort. Smoker reports there's a Seastone cell there that I'm sure Rameses will find cozy."

Marion had donned a black and silver cloak after returning to her ship and carried a cutlass by her side with an ebony blade. Since appearing in Sanji's kitchen unexpectedly her demeanor had changed entirely from sassy temptress to rogue pirate commander.

"Rameses and the Chess Piece Pirates will be expecting resistance from us, but you two will be our secret weapons." She continued. She turned to Zoro. "From what I've heard Lady Rook is more than formidable with a blade. She's practically two people when she wields them. Do you think you can hold her off while Sanji, Smoker and I corner Rameses?"

Zoro didn't flinch. "She'll just be another rung on the ladder I'm climbing."

"Love that sullen, can-do attitude," Marion replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"If this scarecrow-looking guy can launch spiked missiles at us the size of fishing spears, it's going to have to be about speed and agility." Zoro crossed his arms and leaned against the rail. "A strong offense will be the perfect defense. Sure, you can disappear, and we know Smoker well enough to know with his abilities he'll have a chance of getting in close, but the best this lanky smokestack can do it keep dodging projectiles and hope for the best."

He nodded his head at Sanji.

"There's another threat he's going to deal with first," Marion responded. "The Bishop is a new member of the Chess Piece Pirates. Very little is known about him other than that he's lightning-fast and moves like a shadow. The thing is, while his bounty is twenty-five million berries, Black Foot Sanji's is more than twice that, and I doubt he can move so fast his feet catch fire."

Sanji idly raised one of his feet and tapped his shoes with a knuckle. "Rubber soles. That's the trick."

"I'll bet Bishop's wanted poster is more flattering." Zoro chided.

Sanji glared sourly and stroked his chin. "Speaking of which, I should get Tashigi to snap a new picture while I'm here…"

"The Bishop doesn't have a wanted poster. No one has seen his face." Marion informed them. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that if we capture all three, Rameses, Lady Rook, and The Bishop, clemency may be granted to the Clovers and the Straw Hats by the Navy. At least short term."

"Now where's fun in that?" Sanji smirked as he finally managed to spark a flame to life and light up his smoke.

* * *

Trotting along the beach in his four-legged form, Chopper kept his nose low to the sand as he concentrated on locating the invisible trail his friends had left behind. Following in his footprints, Nami and Robin were scanning the horizon in every direction for a ship.

"Nothing…" Chopper reported somberly, the painful weight of his failure reflecting in his normally warm and playful eyes. "Sanji and Zoro didn't leave the ship in either direction. It's like they vanished into thin air."

"What about the other two?" Nami asked urgently. Her fiery annoyance at the men's disappearance had dimmed to a cold panic that was throbbing in the pit of her stomach, though she was trying hard not to let it show. "There were at least two other people on the ship with them, right? Both women?"

Chopper nodded his animal head confidently. "Definitely. One was the woman who appeared in our kitchen before, I'm sure of it. The other…" Chopper trailed off.

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"It's so familiar… I just can't place it…." Chopper clenched his teeth in frustration. "I know I've smelled her before. I just don't remember where…"

"Normally I would say if the kidnappers were women there's no wonder Sanji didn't put up a fight…" Nami frowned. "But Zoro too? No way. Something else is going on here."

"You said Sanji recognized this green-haired woman?" Robin looked down at Chopper. "If he didn't react by fawning over her, there has to be a history of bad blood there."

Nami crossed her arms and made a pouting face. "Since when has any other woman had more sway over him than the two of us?" She huffed as she glanced sideways at the raven-haired beauty. "I didn't think Sanji would abandon us for any reason."

Robin stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"

Nami froze. "What? No!" She blushed furiously. "Are you?"

"I'm not sure. Should we be?" Robin tilted her head, the hint of a smirk tracing itself up her cheek.

"Well… No… I mean… He's risked his life so often for both of us!" Nami stuttered.

"He's risked his life for dozens of women." Robin reminded her.

"But he always got back on the ship _with us!_" Nami persisted.

Robin put her hands on her hips and chuckled softly. "You miss his constant gawking affection, don't you?"

Nami made a hissing noise through her teeth. "Sanji is such an irritating smoke-spewing kiss-ass, but… you know, he's always _been_ there! Now that he's suddenly gone… I didn't realize how much I…." She trailed off.

Robin nodded in gentle agreement. "He's charming in his own way, but his perverted style of chivalry has always extended beyond the two of us."

She looked out towards the setting sun.

"I've had men stare at me lustfully my entire adult life, but with him… It's like he's just as excited about making us breakfast the following morning as he is about us spending the night, you know? He's shallow on the surface, but he has a noble type of depth as well, like he'll always have our well-being at heart. He's a good man, even though he's obnoxious."

"I miss him…" Nami sighed heavily as she ran her hand through her hair. "Not just the attention and the food. I actually miss _him_."

She looked up to find Chopper back in his normal two-legged form, staring back at her. A silence hung in the air between them for a moment.

"Did you two forget I was here?" The reindeer asked.

Nami tackled Chopper, grabbed him by both of his antlers and pressed her face directly into his, glaring daggers at him from point-blank range.

"If you _EVER_ tell him I said that I will tie your pudgy little body to the anchor, spin you around in circles over my head and heave you _so far_ out to sea you'll clear the Calm Belt and wind up _somewhere in the EAST BLUE!_"

"_GAH! OKAY! OKAY!_ _I PROMISE!"_ Chopper wailed as he yielded in abject terror.

Robin covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled.

"_OI! NAMI! ROBIN! CHOPPER! ANYTHING?"_

The three of them turned to see Luffy and Usopp jogging up the beach behind them. Nami released Chopper's antlers and straightened up.

"There's no trace of them!" Usopp called out. "And if they're not on the island, whatever ship picked them up must have sailed away at breakneck speed."

Nami noticed the fire in her captain's eyes as he approached. Rarely had she seen Luffy looking angry enough to bite through steel, though whether the rage was directed at his two missing crew members specifically or the mysterious circumstances surrounding their actions she couldn't tell.

"Look…" Nami removed her map from her pack and then took Sanji's note from her pocket. "The note says to wait three days. There's no island anywhere remotely close to here that they could reach in three days, much less a day and a half, that they could sail to and come back."

"Then they must be sailing to specific coordinates on the water." Usopp stroked his chin.

"Or maybe there's an island out there that's uncharted," Robin suggested.

"If that's the case, the Log Pose hasn't indicated it." Nami raised the tiny globe fastened to her wrist to double-check it.

"There's another question that needs to be addressed," Luffy spoke in a stern voice, his tone much darker than it normally was. "If they're not back in three days, what do we do then?"

He looked at each of them for a moment, letting the question sink in.

Nami broke the silence first. "We'll just wait for them."

"Why?" Luffy asked without hesitation. The word fell heavily from his lips into the sand like a concrete slab.

"Because…" Nami paused.

"They're our friends!" Chopper protested.

"They abandoned us without explanation, and then gave us a deadline…" Luffy's eyes seemed to burn angrier even though his stern tone remained the same. "If they're not back by then, all we can do is assume that they're not coming back."

"But that may because they can't!" Usopp stated, clearly alarmed at what his captain was implying. "They may be in trouble!"

"And they didn't leave us anyway to find them or rescue them," Luffy replied bitterly. "You all may have forgotten, but this is _my_ ship, and this is _my_ crew. Maybe I don't always act like it, but I'm the captain, and my rules are law. Two members of my crew are gone, making their own plans, writing their own rules."

"Luffy…" Robin spoke up. "You know Sanji and Zoro. You trust them. We don't know the circumstances. They may be doing this to protect us from something."

"I decide when I need protection," Luffy stated bluntly. "Whatever the situation was, they should have told me. That's why when the sun rises on the third day, we set sail for the next island. We'll find a new cook and another swordsman, and we'll adapt. If they ever find us again, I'll decide whether they set foot on board. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

"I do!" Nami protested after a moment's pause, feeling the beginnings of angry tears begin to form. "We can't do that Luffy! We can't just sail away without even trying to find them! We don't leave our friends behind! I know you're angry, hurt even, but _this isn't you!_ I joined this crew because you were the type of captain who would risk _everything_ for anyone of us, and you've proved that time and time again. Sanji and Zoro may have betrayed your trust, but they're _not_ expendable!"

Nami met her captain's eyes, stone-cold with conviction, and forced herself not to blink. She was breathing hard, trying to catch her breath after her outburst, and with each intake of air felt she felt more defeated, standing against him alone. It was like she was drowning on dry land.

"Anyone else?" Luffy asked.

"I agree with her, Luffy." Robin added calmly yet firmly. "I'm sorry, but at the very least we can give them more time. We need to discover what their motives were before we judge them. I respect your authority as captain, but any captain is only as strong as the people who believe in him. I know Sanji and Zoro still believe in you."

"That's right Luffy!" Chopper exclaimed, far too loudly. "As a doctor, I swore never to look the other way when someone may need help! What if they're hurt and we have the chance to save them, but we just sail away?!"

Usopp grit his teeth before he spoke up. "Luffy… You, Zoro and Nami had every reason to leave me on that beach when you first boarded the Merry. You didn't owe me anything, but you brought me aboard because you said we were friends. If it really was as simple as that, Zoro and Sanji are our friends too. They'll always be a part of the crew, and I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes."

Luffy didn't flinch. "So that's how you all feel?"

"We're confused Luffy. We're worried, and we're upset, but we don't feel betrayed. You shouldn't either." Nami took a step forward, squeezing the letter tightly in her hand.

Luffy adjusted his straw hat and took a breath. "On the third day, I set sail, with or without all of you."

He turned and walked slowly back up the beach towards the ship without looking back. Chopper, Robin and Usopp all looked deflated and hurt, each with their eyes fixed downwards at a different patch of sand. Nami glared at their captain and finally let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. It wasn't Luffy's words that had set them free, but the way his voice had caught in his throat right before he said them. He was hurting just as much as the rest of them, perhaps even more so, but refusing to show it, and the pain of that refusal was driving his actions.

The others could afford to let their emotions guide their decisions, but he didn't have that luxury. He certainly didn't want to leave them all behind, but he would do it. That's who the captain had to be, the one who made the final call because law and reason always had to override emotion in the end.

As much as Nami loved him for choosing to be the one to make that call, she couldn't help but hate him for it as well.

* * *

After a near sleepless night below deck in a cramped marine cot, Sanji had attempted to enter the ship's galley to make help the pirate chefs make breakfast for the crew, but they had refused to allow him inside.

"Don't use butter to grease the pan!" Sanji snapped before the door was slammed in his face.

He walked up on deck and lit his first smoke of the day and exhaled the tobacco cloud out over the railing where the wind caught it briefly before it vanished.

Tashigi had assigned Zoro and himself a room to share below deck, but before he had even seen it Marion had escorted him to the entrance of her private cabin.

"This isn't your fight Sanji…" She had stated as she opened the door. "I made you break your moral code and lie to your friends. I don't want you to think that doesn't mean anything to me. Tomorrow we could both be dead…"

She had delicately begun to unbutton her nightshirt and then held out her hand to him, her eyes apologetic instead of seductive, her voice timid instead of teasing. Over her shoulder Sanji had seen the spacious bed, beckoning them both forward.

He had raised his hand reflexively to take hers, and for half a moment his mind had sunk into the joyous, passionate bliss he experienced whenever he was in the presence of a beautiful woman, but just as quickly his mind returned to that night at Baratie. He remembered the blood on his hands and the look in her eyes as she realized she had betrayed his trust.

No, worse…

Betrayed his love.

He kept his expression neutral and slowly shook his head before taking an agonized step backward and away from her.

Marion's face had fallen in embarrassment and disappointment.

He turned his back on her as she called after him.

"How many times can I say I'm sorry, Sanji? God damn you! Any woman now except me? Is that how it is?"

_Maybe…_ He thought sullenly to himself.

He had walked eight feet down the narrow corridor before he felt the moisture run down his chin and realized his nose was bleeding. He pulled out his handkerchief and had held it to his face, trying in vain to prevent the blood from staining his suit.

After taking the corner he had leaned against the wall, his head spinning, his heart racing, his entire body rebelling against him for walking away from her like that. It had been so long, and he had waited so patiently for Nami or Robin to invite him into their warm embrace, but they hadn't, so he found satisfaction by making them smile in other ways. Even if they never would, he was determined never to stop treating them like royalty.

In his mind, physical pleasure wasn't meant to be the end game. Like any great feast, it was another dish to be enjoyed, but not to be appreciated so much that it made you ignore the rest of the wondrous selection before you. It was tasty, but it could never be served as the main course. The most rewarding and nourishing of all entrees was the sensation of them knowing he could be trusted.

Even though he more often left the impression of a shameless, lustful creep, he wanted to be remembered as a gentleman and a hero, not defining his worth on the multitude of sexual endeavors he experienced, but how many women he had stood up for.

He would always be captivated by the view, but he would never betray his code and overstep his bounds. Had he chosen to indulge in what Marion had offered, it wouldn't have been real affection, and he would have undermined who he was at heart. Someone who chose himself over the woman. After what she had done, it was fitting she sleep with a dishonest man, but he knew it couldn't be him.

Refocusing his mind on the present, he placed a foot up upon the railing as the morning breeze tossed his cigarette smoke back up past his face and through his hair. Maybe one day he'd be able to forgive Marion, but not yet. Not here.

* * *

Zoro sat at the very back of the ship, his legs hanging off the railing as he stared at the wake trailing behind them, the rudder every so often creaking as it made small corrections to keep them on course.

"You weren't at breakfast…" Tashigi's voice came from behind just him, and suddenly she was leaning out over the railing right next to him.

"I was there. You just didn't have your glasses on." Zoro replied simply.

"Was that a joke? From Roronoa Zoro?" Tashigi raised an eyebrow, not trying to hide her pleased astonishment.

Zoro winced. That had been too familiar. As much as he hated to admit it, even if it was only to himself, the cook was right. Tashigi was different. Not because of who she was but who she consistently reminded him of. With her every gesture, toss of the hair, stern expression or spoken word, he was with Kuina again. It unsettled him.

He had made his peace with her passing after many long years of heartache, and just when he had finished forging that molten pain into iron strength, here came this ghost to test him and turn him into a shaky-legged clueless child again. He was always confident with every step he took, convinced it would make him stronger, faster, wiser… but with her, it was all a fog. He didn't know what the smarter path would be, to ignore the distraction or to accept the renewed challenge and strive to conquer it even quicker.

Like it or not, she was another weakness he had to overcome, and as long as he could identify them, he had to master them and turn them into strengths. When she had approached him the previous day after Sanji had reappeared, he could have denied her request and thrown her off the ship, but he found himself unable to form the words to do anything except hear her out.

He had followed her less out of obligation and more out of furious vexation. He needed to make himself look into those eyes and see her for who she was. A young woman who was most definitely _not_ his former rival, and therefore had no sway over him, but even now he could barely bring himself to turn his head.

"Should you be visiting with me like this in front of the other marines?" He asked, ignoring her question.

She shrugged. "We're on a pirate ship. I can get away with speaking to pirates. I wanted to thank you again for joining us… and I wanted to apologize. I was… um… overly judgmental towards you back in Loguetown. I thought you were just another lawless pirate with no respect for the weapons he wielded, but after what you did for the princess of Alabasta and her people…"

"You have nothing to apologize for," Zoro replied, his eyes still focusing on the ship's wake. "You let us go afterward. I don't think we ever thanked you for that."

There was a moment of heavy silence between them.

"I wish we didn't have to be enemies…" Tashigi said in barely more than a whisper.

Zoro turned his head towards her a fraction of an inch.

"Who said I consider you an enemy?"

"My position and your bounty dictate how we have to see each other." She stammered, forcing her expression to remain professional.

"And yet we're on a pirate ship together, conversing as friends. Even though our motivations may not be the same, at least for the time being we share a common goal." Zoro was surprised how warm his voice sounded. That wasn't like him.

Tashigi sighed and adjusted her bangs. "I used to think everything was so black and white, but I suppose being "lawless" doesn't make one "evil."

"You know who are incapable of seeing the world as anything except black and white? The Chess Piece Pirates. After today, they won't be seeing much of anything."

"Was that more humor?" Tashigi smirked.

It hadn't escaped Zoro's notice that she had shyly been sliding herself closer to him every half minute.

"I have to ask you something." Zoro braced himself and made himself look her dead in the eye, and the shadow of Kuina's ghost was there, staring back at him through Tashigi's nervous, yet determined eyes.

"Okay." She replied simply.

"Would you stay aboard the ship if I asked you to? Don't engage with the enemy, just remain back here out of harm's way?"

Tashigi's eyebrows shot up, and it was clear she wasn't sure whether to be touched or offended by his concern.

"I'm the ranking officer Zoro. These are my men, and I can't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself."

"You're the ranking officer only until Smoker gets here." Zoro countered. "I just… it would be safer if you stayed on board."

"Because I'm a woman?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Because you distract me…"

Zoro regretted saying it the moment the words fell from his lips. He hadn't planned on admitting that, it had just emerged like a caged beast he had so far been able to keep chained behind his teeth, but now that it was free, the only thing he could do was recapture it before it got away.

"I mean… The cook and I can handle this. I don't need any marine blood on my hands, especially yours… I don't need to give Smoker any more reason to hate us."

He averted his gaze back out the open sea again, arms still crossed, poker face still sullen and unreadable. At least, he hoped that was the case.

Tashigi didn't speak for another moment, then her normally timid voice rang out strong like the Golden Bell of Skypiea.

"My duty is to my mission and my men. I'm a marine, and I won't ever ask others to die in my place while I stand by. I'll be on that beach right next to you, and if you don't like that, you're welcome to try and stop me now."

She placed one hand on her sword hilt to punctuate her words.

Zoro felt the scathing heat of her challenge wash over him, and he remembered Kuina's steadfast refusal to yield to every challenge he had presented her. In fact, there had always been a stoic, fearless willingness to accept. Tashigi may not have been fearless, but her will was just as strong. Everything Kuina ever stood for was flowing through the veins of this woman as well, and to deny that would have been to deny what he had admired about his friend all those years ago. It wasn't mere coincidence. Zoro didn't believe in coincidence. Wherever she was now, this was her testing him yet again. All he could do was accept.

"You know, marines and pirates, their codes aren't all that different," Zoro said softly.

He spun around on the railing and stood up, straightening himself to his full height as he turned to face her. He set his hand on the small of her back and his other hand on her left bicep. Tashigi's eyes widened at his touch, obviously taken aback at his tenderness.

"Don't ever lean forward no matter how heavy your blade feels. Keep your feet planted and your stance strong. Avoid the sand whenever possible, it will throw off your balance. Don't fall into your opponent's rhythm. Strike when you can, but don't ever sacrifice your cover, even for what could be a killing blow."

"I know all of that…" Tashigi replied softly, glancing up into his eyes with a guilty look that implied she had been trying to avoid them.

"And now I know you do." Zoro drew her sword from off her side and the young woman let out a gasp like he had just unbuckled her belt and her skirt had slipped. He examined the blade carefully.

"Well-balanced. Sharpened nicely. The weight isn't too much?"

She took the sword back indignantly, her hand brushing his as they made the exchange.

"I'm stronger than I look." She answered with conviction.

"One last thing then," Zoro added as he made to turn and walk off towards the helm.

"What's that?"

"Don't lose your glasses."

He walked down the steps and was halfway across the main deck before his stone-face cracked and the faintest shadow of a smirk played at the side of his lips. Zoro normally only felt a cold storm inside his chest, and he used its winds to drive his actions and its lightning to power his strikes, but for at least a few short moments until he reached the bow, he would allow himself to feel a sensation of warmth as he reflected on the girl's fierce, yet puppy-like adorable brown eyes.

* * *

"There's our uncharted island…" Sanji commented as Zoro joined him upon the bow. The two Straw Hats stared out at the approaching spike of hostile rock and dry brush which looked as inviting as a wasp's nest.

"Why is it uncharted?" the swordsman asked without much curiosity.

"I got to talking with one of the Clover Pirates last night." Sanji flicked cigarette ash over the rail. "Apparently, the island spins in a slow circle because of underwater currents. You can't really chart it properly because the island is constantly in motion."

"Sounds like something you would find on the Grand Line…" Zoro shrugged. "So, the Navy tried using it for a while?"

"They did. So did the Black Clovers." The cook confirmed "Can't really blame them for abandoning it. It must be a pain to trying to pinpoint it. Fortunately, Marion figured out the coordinates of where it would be. She actually has a log pose that records it."

"Right… Marion the pirate… Who you care about but apparently don't trust…" Zoro's eyes narrowed.

"Yep…" Sanji confirmed without hesitation.

"This was a bad idea…" Zoro muttered.

"Too late now." The cook responded simply. "The Clover Pirates made sure information was leaked to the Chess Piece Pirates that the remaining ships would meet here before abandoning the Grand Line."

"They'll expect a trap." Zoro glowered.

"Very likely, but they won't be expecting you and me, or Smoker and his men for that matter. Since the island is uninhabited it's the perfect spot for a final confrontation."

Zoro squinted and put his hand over his eyes as he stared at the lagoon. The skeletal remains of what looked to be an abandoned ship was grounded in the bay upon the sand.

"If it's uninhabited, why is there a wreck?" he asked.

Sanji glanced towards the beach as the sound of rapid footfalls across the deck made both men turn around, and suddenly Marion was there in her long coat, cutlass back upon her belt, captain's sash around her waist and spyglass in her hand. There was no trace of the hurt in her eyes Sanji had seen there the previous night.

"Is that one of your ships?" Sanji asked her. "I don't see anyone on board."

"That looks like the _Rising Storm_, one of the ships we're supposed to rendezvous with, but it's not flying any colors. This doesn't make sense. What would cause them to crash? The lagoon is as smooth as silk."

"Better question. If it's not wrecked, why would your ship run itself onto the sand in the exact spot we planned to launch a surprise attack?" Zoro asked.

"They wouldn't…" Marion replied with certainty.

"How sure are you that it's actually your ship?" Sanji grimaced as his eyes scanned the mysterious vessel from every angle.

Instead of answering, Marion raised her arm to signal the crow's nest and the pirate rang the bell obediently. They waited in silence for a few moments for a response of some kind from the first ship, but none came.

"What's going on?" Tashigi asked as she joined them, her glasses reflecting the morning fire as she took in the view of the ghost ship. She borrowed the spyglass from Marion as Sanji filled her in and she pointed to the sand after a moment. "There are no tracks anywhere on the beach and no sign of a camp."

"So, the crew haven't disembarked…" Sanji began.

"Because they never got the chance. They were attacked." Marion snarled as she turned and began shouting at her crew. "Hard to port! Battle stations!"

Zoro drew his swords and Sanji placed one of his feet up on the railing in anticipation of an attack.

"That's the _Rising Storm_, I'm sure of it!" Marion snapped with sudden intense certainty and alarm. "I have to check on my crew!"

"Not on your own!" Sanji snapped a half-second before the woman vanished like smoke in the breeze.

"Damn it!" Sanji roared in frustration. He turned to Tashigi. "Any word from Smoker?"

"Less than a mile away with the wind on their backs." She waved her arm and closed her fist and a dozen marines stationed on the ship formed ranks behind them on the foredeck. "I'll prepare the men to row ashore on the far side of the bay."

"Best hold off on that." Zoro hissed through clenched teeth.

"I'm getting that feeling too," Sanji admitted. "We should raise the sails and wait for Marion."

"I'm not the captain," Tashigi responded. "That's not my call."

"Then I'll do it!" Sanji snapped.

Suddenly, Marion was back, her arms encircling Sanji's chest.

"_Get down! It's going to blow!" _She cried out before Sanji felt a brief blur of motion as they teleported, followed immediately by a blow to his chest as he and Marion landed heavily upon the beach and the air was knocked from his lungs. With an ear-splitting roar that shook their bones, the ghost ship exploded…

* * *

Zoro didn't pause to think. Grabbing Tashigi around her waist he hurled himself over the side of the deck as the blast wave hit the side of the _Cutthroat Bounty_ and wooden shrapnel rained down upon them like a thousand piercing needles.

The sea struck him on the flat of his back and he grunted as he lost two of his swords on impact and the freezing water swallowed them. Instead of releasing his grip on the marine officer he kicked hard in the direction of the shore in case the _Bounty_ made to capsize.

Tashigi squirmed in his grip in a sheer panic for a few moments before he realized what she was trying to tell him. He noticed the glint of light reflecting off her glasses as they descended towards the seafloor. He immediately adjusted his trajectory and shot downwards after them, scooping them up in his hand before redirecting them both back towards the beach. He lost sight of his swords. He'd have to come back for them.

His head broke the surface and he dragged Tashigi up alongside him. The young woman gasped and began hacking up seawater.

"Can you swim?" He coughed.

"Yes, but I can't see!" She gasped in a blind panic.

"Here…" Zoro shoved her glasses into her flailing hands. "Swim to shore. I'll be right back."

Before Tashigi could reply, Zoro had taken a massive breath and disappeared again into the depths of the bay.

* * *

Sanji was back up on his feet in an instant. From the far side of the lagoon, he watched as the _Cutthroat Bounty_ was violently knocked sideways by the force of the blast and fiery debris rained down upon the deck. They had been fortunate that Marion had decided to change course when they did because had they sailed much closer the explosion would have likely engulfed the ship entirely.

"Zoro!" Sanji called out as he watched the swordsman's head break above the water with Tashigi a safe distance from the wreck. Almost immediately he watched Zoro dive back down into the water and Sanji sprinted out into the shallows to help their bespectacled comrade. In the distance, he could see some of the other Black Clover pirates and Marines leaping over the side and into the bay to escape the onslaught of falling wreckage.

Tashigi clawed her way forward through the icy salt-water and regained her feet right as Sanji reached her and took her arm.

"This way, I've got you."

"What happened?" She sputtered as she frantically wiped at her glasses.

"It was a trap." He glowered. Turning back towards the beach he spotted two more pirates who Marion had teleported to safety as soon as she had dropped him off. Marion reappeared in a flash with a third man before vanishing again with the speed of a lightning strike.

As the men shakily made to stand upright Sanji noticed a blur of motion behind them.

"Look out!" He screamed a fraction of a second too late.

Blood splattered the sand as two swords cut through the first two men as though they were ripe fruit and they collapsed upon the beach like sacks of cornmeal. The third man was clearly disoriented but managed to get his pistol up before a sword skewered him beneath his breastbone. The pistol fired as his body spasmed, but the woman wielding the blades idly tilted her head to one side and dodged the shot, strands of her plum-colored hair fluttering wildly in the bullet's wake.

She wrenched her sword free of the man and whipped it down quickly to angle at her side, sending a fresh spray of blood into the breeze.

Sanji grit his teeth in fury as his whole body tensed, and he found himself unable to react to the woman's onslaught. The female attacker turned to smirked at him with her serpent's eyes and took two steps forward, raising the tip of one of her blades to aim between his eyes.

She had just stopped three heartbeats in as many seconds and hadn't even flinched. No, she was worse than a serpent… Sanji thought. She was the dark maw from which all serpents emerged.

"Love the suit. I'd hate to ruin it." She taunted.

Sanji couldn't bring himself to raise his leg to counter her attack, not out of fear, but of reluctant fortitude. He made to side-step her thrust instead, but the wet sand threw off his balance as the tip of the blade shot past his cheek. Just as she made to pivot and slash him across the throat, there was a blur of motion and a great clash of metal on metal as both of her blades connected with a third.

Tashigi was between them, her own sword drawn and angled perfectly to block her attack.

"Lady Rook!" The young woman called out with fire on her tongue. "You have the blood of dozens of marines on your hands! We have the island surrounded. You will surrender yourself now!"

The woman called Lady Rook smirked. "This little butterfly thinks she's a wasp…"

The swords shrieked as they disconnected, and the older woman rained down blow after blow on Tashigi's curved blade with her own twin sabers. Tashigi lost ground by half a step but held her own, blocking every strike that was dealt her.

"_Damn you!"_ Sanji roared towards the vile woman, furious at the sight of Tashigi in peril. Flipping himself forwards he planted his hands in the sand and spun his legs above him in helicopter blade formation, and with master accuracy, he struck the hilt of one of Lady Rook's swords with his heel and sent it flying.

Before it fell far enough to hit the earth, a black, shadowy figure suddenly sprang forward as if birthed from thin air and swung a sword of its own, striking the falling blade at an upward angle and sending it twirling back into the air where Lady Rook nimbly caught it again by its grip.

Sanji's breath caught in his throat. _"What the?"_

The woman's shadow slithered along the sand like a trained anaconda and stood upright just behind her as though it was a separate person wielding its own twin swords in a horrific mimicry of its master.

"She's a Devil Fruit eater…" Tashigi hissed to Sanji as she braced herself for another attack.

"Not quite…" Lady Rook quipped. "Let's just say Gecko Moriah owed me a favor…"

She launched herself forward and her shadow followed. Four blades, two silver, and two shadowy black screamed through the air. Tashigi deflected two of the blows expertly but the third sliced her across the shoulder and the fourth knocked the legs out from under her. Sanji launched a furious kick at the shadow but he flew right through it without making physical contact and landed hard on the sand.

Lady Rook made to stab downwards at Tashigi, but a solid elbow connected with her sternum and her cavalier hat flew off. Marion had appeared out of thin air directly between the two and managed to plant a blow into the woman's chest as she drew her own sword.

The villainess took two steps backward to steady herself and raised both of her swords upwards, points forward as though imitating a scorpion. Marion and Tashigi stood side by side, swords drawn and staring back at her.

"You killed my men. I'm going to cut out your heart and nail it to my masthead." Marion's words seemed to scorch themselves into the sea breeze around them.

"You'll have to find it first." The woman spoke with ice to counter Marion's scathing voice. The shadow launched itself around Lady Rook and its swords crashed against the waiting blades.

Sanji watched as Tashigi and Marion masterfully blocked the blows against the villain's self-conscious mirror image as the woman with plum-colored hair made to circle around them.

Sanji grit his teeth so hard his jaw popped. He had an opening. From his position could launch a kick directly into the woman's abdomen before she could counter him with her swords and knock her a good distance away from his friends, but his body refused to comply.

He paused as he heard a young child's voice echo through his head as if calling from the deepest of forgotten caverns:

"_I'll never hurt anyone like that… especially you…"_

His throat tightened as he remembered her face, eyes swollen, nose bleeding, but a warm smile spreading across her face regardless.

"I know you won't, Sanji." She replied as she hugged him, and his tears wet her cheeks. "You'll be the greatest type of man. One who protects women."

But now Lady Rook was advancing on his friends, and if he didn't do something, his inaction would get them killed.

"_God damn it!" _He screamed as he saw red and fired himself into the air. Instead of delivering the prearranged kick he swiped his foot roughly through the loose sand and launched a blinding cloud of dust into the woman's eyes.

Before she could react, he swiped his other foot across the sand in the opposite direction, and then continued the pattern, rapidly pelting her with wave after wave of millions of tiny projectiles and obstructing her view, driving her away from the pirate captain and the marine officer.

"Are you still here?" He heard her cough, and with a toss of her cape the air between them cleared and she caught Sanji's outstretched leg with the flat of her blade.

"We're playing with fire while you're struggling to master the flint." She chided, her piercing eyes laughing at him. "Are you a fool or a coward? The Grand Line has no need of either."

"Neither. I'm a cook…" He snapped and kicked himself into the air. He spun his body clockwise, catching her blade tip above his toe and he brought down his other foot with the force of a lightning strike and broke her sword in half.

Immediately one of the swords the shadow wielded evaporated into nothingness, and, caught off guard, it immediately began to fall back in distress as Marion and Tashigi doubled their attack.

Sanji landed nimbly on the sand and stared back at the woman's astonished face as he continued.

"… and I don't leave blood in my wake."

She indignantly tossed the broken weapon aside and raised her remaining blade with both hands and smirked at him.

"You will."

"_Sanji!"_ He heard Marion scream from behind him.

His world suddenly exploded in pain as he felt a blade bite deep into the meat of his left shoulder. His legs collapsed underneath him as he felt the sword twist itself.

He felt an icy sensation run over his skin as the woman's shadow passed over him to reposition itself next to her, his own blood staining the dark replica of her own blade.

"A White Knight's blood is the best kind to spill." Lady Rook's voice filled his wound like poison. "It's like striking oil."

Sanji collapsed forward and his face hit the sand, but he could still hear her voice hovering over him.

"Every drop has value. Best make it last and let it drain from you slowly."

He felt a rush of motion above him and heard Lady Rook's grunt as she was knocked backwards across the beach and her shadow followed comically in her wake like a puppet on a string. He didn't need to raise his head to figure out what happened, because there came the familiar sound of teeth clenching down on metal and he felt a rush of sudden relief.

Zoro had joined the fight.

* * *

After Zoro had located his fallen swords at the soggy base of the bay he kicked himself back up towards sunlight and breathed in deep as he tried to collect his bearings.

Across the beach, rifles were being fired from what felt like every direction as a dozen Chess Piece pirates emerged from their hiding places and took aim at the Clovers and Marines leaping from the _Cutthroat Bounty_.

Zoro deflected shot after shot with the flats of his blades as he launched himself up out of the water and tore across the sand, cutting down enemy combatants left and right and giving what men were still in the water a chance to reach the shore safely.

The Chess Piece pirates wore varying layers of black and white checkerboard patterns, and their uniformity made it easy for Zoro to identify his enemy and dispatch them. As he cleared a path up the beach several of Tashigi's marines were able to find cover behind the scattered debris of the first ship and return fire.

Zoro paused to tie his green bandanna tightly around his scalp and place the handle of his third sword between his teeth. He tasted saltwater in his mouth as he bit down hard on the katana's grip and the ocean that had soaked itself into the bindings ran free as if from a sponge.

"Ten Ton Talon!" He cried out through gritted teeth and struck down three incoming enemies with the speed and deadly force of an eagle's claw impaling a salmon.

Behind him, he heard the Black Clover Pirates and marines cheer as they realized Zoro was evening the playing field and their attackers began to fall. He quickly scanned the beach and spotted Sanji, Tashigi, and Marion on the far side of the bay battling against two figures wielding blades.

He parried a blade strike from another daring Chess Piece pirate and sliced his attacker's sword into four pieces before cutting the man down and putting him into the sand before the ringing vibration of the severed metal was finished echoing in his ears.

Zoro kicked himself upwards off the shoulder of another bewildered enemy and made his way towards his lanky crewmate. From behind him, he heard the cannons aboard the _Cutthroat Bounty_ begin to sing their booming lyrics as what men remained on board targeted the enemies on the beach.

The swordsman had nearly closed the distance when a change in the air tickled at his senses and he pivoted just in time to avoid a heavy metal chain taking off his head. A pirate twice his size moved to intercept him and block his path. The great brute sported a chess pawn with a skeletal face tattooed upon his bare chest and strapped upon his back was the massive steering wheel of a pirate ship with dozens of chains wrapped around it like a ball of twine.

The large man cackled through rows of broken jagged teeth and took another swing at Zoro, his collection of chains clinking loudly against each other like a rusty windchime. The swordsman easily parried the blow with one of his katanas and the chain snapped as he sliced through it gracefully.

Undeterred, the man reached behind him and spun the great wheel upon his back, feeding out more chain as if it were string on a fishing pole, but suddenly a great black mass of ooze splattered him directly between his eyes and he bellowed in furious confusion over being temporarily blinded.

Zoro looked over his shoulder. Standing just behind him was a Black Clover pirate with long slimy black hair and his hand extended outward, a thick slime running from between his fingers.

"Ink Ink Fruit." The man stated breathlessly. "I've got him, go help the Captain."

Without pausing to think twice Zoro tore across the sand, bullets whizzing past him from all sides. He batted them away like flies with his blades.

He watched as the cook was skewered from behind by a shadowy form and he snarled in irritation and rage. He could tell his friend's wound wasn't fatal, but it would slow him down, and they couldn't afford to lose ground.

Zoro kicked himself off a fallen tree and soared through the air, spinning his body like a shuriken star and slamming himself into the attacking woman, knocking her backward.

Zoro hit the sand in a crouching position and launched himself forward again, and to his amazement, the woman parried all three of his blades with a single strike of her rapier. His breath caught in his throat and he had a horrific flashback of the day when Dracule Mihawk had accomplished the same feat using only the dagger he wore around his neck.

"Roronoa Zoro…" The woman's eyes lit up as she leaned into her stance and put more pressure on his blades. "I've been hoping to encounter you." She chided.

Zoro shifted his weight and broke his locked blades free, pivoting sideways and repositioning himself, reevaluating his plan of attack.

The woman idly spun her blade and the shadow mimicked her actions.

"No…" She paused, and the shadow fell silently upon the ground again to follow her passively as any shadow would. "This isn't cutting through weeds, it's slaying a dragon. The glory will be mine alone."

She straightened her back and pointed her single rapier forward with one arm, the point level with his eye. "Three sword style. Keeps you from getting too chatty I see. Personally, I find two blades cumbersome enough, but that's mostly for intimidation anyway. One is all I'll need to put you down."

Zoro's blades ricocheted through the air like lightning strikes, but she fluidly, almost effortlessly, countered each blow without once losing her balance.

"We're practically siblings, you and I." She grinned, unphased by his piercing glare. With her free hand, she lifted her shirt to expose a long blood-red scar that ran diagonally across her smooth stomach.

"Mihawk…" She declared as she let her shirt drop again. "He spared my life. Any deeper and my guts would have painted my feet. I heard you were baptized by Yoru as well."

Zoro normally wouldn't indulge in petty chides meant to delay the duel, but every moment she kept speaking was another moment he could read her body language and analyze her patterns to try to determine her next move. He wasn't sure if he believed her story about Mihawk, but true or not, he had her beat.

He tore off his shirt and let it fall in tatters upon the sand, exposing his broad chest and massive scar which ran from left shoulder to right hip that the Warlord had graced him with upon the East Blue on the day he had met Sanji.

"It seems he saw potential in both of us." She acknowledged. "Let's see which child of Mihawk was correctly assigned his faith."

Her movements were as quick and explosive as a bullet from a rifle. Zoro barely had time to counter her blow before her blade tip embedded itself between his ribs. He blocked her attack and attempted again to rain blows upon her but to no avail. He moved like a charging bull while she glided around him like a coiled serpent. He couldn't defeat her with brute strength. He had to find a way to outmaneuver her, break her focus, and bury his katana in her neck…

* * *

Marion tore her scarf free and attempted to staunch Sanji's wound while Tashigi rolled him onto his side so he could better catch his breath.

"The _Storm's_ crew were all dead. There were quills embedded in the deck everywhere." Marion spoke rapidly. "It was all a diversion. They rigged the gunpowder to blow."

"Where's Smoker?" Sanji gasped for breath.

"I'm not sure…" Tashigi answered nervously as she glanced around them. "My men are being overrun…"

"How did they know?" Sanji asked.

"I have an idea…" Marion glared as she watched Zoro and Rook dance across the sand trading sharp metallic blows.

There came a second explosion from the bay, and they all turned to see Marion's flagship The_ Cutthroat Bounty _erupt into flames as massive quills the size of broadswords tore through its wooden shell.

"No!" Marion gasped as she saw her remaining men topple off the ship into the shallows like rag dolls, most of them impaled by the massive black spikes.

"You can't help them! Don't teleport!" Sanji grunted and grabbed her arm. "Marion!" He shouted and made her look at him. "Get yourself and Tashigi to safety. Find somewhere on the island to hide."

"I'm not leaving my men!" Marion snapped.

"We've lost." Sanji groaned as he clutched his wounded shoulder and Tashigi helped him back to his feet. "There's no sense in your dying today. Not when you can vanish and live to fight another day."

"There he is…" Tashigi interrupted as she pointed across the bay.

The massive figure of Juzo Rameses was striding up the beach, his quills sticking out from his upper back at every angle and his overcoat in shreds from where hundreds of razor-tipped harpoons had been fired through it. His parson's hat shaded his eyes but did nothing to hide the man's deranged, manic grin as he walked across the bodies of pirates and marines alike.

"Go," Sanji grunted. "I'll slow him down. You two get out of here."

He quickly scanned the beach in both directions. The _Cutthroat Bounty_ and the _Rising Storm_ were both on fire, the gunshots had stopped, and he couldn't make out any allies who were still standing amongst the remaining Chess Piece Pirates scattered along the beach.

Marion and Tashigi held their ground with Sanji propped between them. Three lowly saplings in the path of the wildfire.

Rameses roared with laughter as he launched a quill from his forearm and skewered a marine upon the sand. The Chess Piece Pirates around him cheered.

Sanji thought of Nami and Robin, and how much he loved them both, and how he wished he could have done more for them before Marion had whisked him away. He had wanted to see Nami's completed world map and hear all about Robin's discoveries relating to the Poneglyphs. Most of all, he had wanted to show them both the wondrous perfection of the All Blue.

"I'm proud to die beside you two," Sanji told the women as he raised his leg at the knee and prepared to launch himself forward. Rameses was getting closer, and any moment now he would finally spot them.

Suddenly Sanji noticed a blur of something, like a fog, glide its way up the beach and envelop Rameses from behind.

"LOOK!" Tashigi cried out.

There was faint a snap of metal as Smoker materialized out of the air next to the towering scarecrow and snapped a Seastone cuff to the villain's wrist.

Rameses roared in fury and swung around, awkwardly firing quills from his back at the brutish marine, but they passed right through him like arrows fired into the mist.

Smoker pulled his Jitte from behind his back and made to stab it into Rameses' torso, but the blunted Seastone tip couldn't penetrate his skin. He spun and delivered a solid punch right into the towering beast's crooked jaw.

"He's got him!" Marion cried out. "We have to help him!"

From behind them, they heard a grunt from Zoro as Lady Rook's blade tip found his upper thigh.

"I'll help Zoro!" Tashigi called out as she ran to him. "You two help Smoker!"

Tashigi sprinted forward and deflected a blow meant for Zoro's neck as the man panted in exhaustion, sweat pouring down his face and chest.

"No room for three in this chess game…" Lady Rook hissed, and her shadow reappeared to intercept the young woman.

"I hate chess…" Tashigi grimaced and pivoted her blade to catch the sun, temporarily blinding Lady Rook and giving her the opportunity to slice the woman behind her knee.

Lady Rook snarled as both she and her shadow swung at Tashigi with their blades, but Zoro blocked the puppeteer's sword with one katana and the puppet's with another. The third blade between his teeth he managed a strike and sliced a cut across the woman's cheek.

Lady Rook retreated three steps and glared at the two of them, the pirate and the marine.

"Okay then…" She snarled as blood trickled down her cheek. "A noble victory is the first casualty. Which of you will be the second?"

She caught the edge of a fallen Clover pirate's blade with her heel and expertly tossed it upwards and caught it with her free hand. Instantly her shadow birthed a second sword of its own.

Zoro and Tashigi launched themselves forward towards her.

* * *

Marion teleported herself across the beach cutting down the remaining Chess Piece pirates with her blade and clearing a path for Sanji as he sprinted towards Smoker and Rameses. The Marine was trying to ensnare the monstrous pirate's other hand in the cuff and subdue him.

None of the other pirates were willing to get close as Rameses was still firing projectile quills in every direction trying to impale his troublesome attacker.

Still clutching at his wounded shoulder Sanji ran forward and kicked himself up into the air, aiming a blow at Rameses's head. Then something struck him between the shoulder blades, and he was sent flying sideways to crash into the shallows. He gasped and coughed up seawater as he scrambled back to his feet.

A hooded figure landed in the sand in front of him, and Sanji recognized the stance it took as it slowly raised one leg upwards at the knee, revealing a cloven hoof instead of a foot.

"You must be Bishop." Sanji acknowledged as he gave a half-hearted smirk and raised a new cigarette to his mouth, despite being drenched in seawater.

"And you're the Blackfoot." The Bishop replied in a monotone voice. "I was there at Enies Lobby. I saw what you did to Jabra."

"I don't remember who that is." Sanji shrugged as his lighter sparked a flame and he lit his smoke. "My mind was on saving my friend. Were you one of Rob Lucci's goons?"

The waves crashed in around his feet as Bishop stared him down from under the hood.

"He wished I was."

Sanji ignored the saltwater burning inside his wound as he took a careful step forward.

"You're the first person I've met on the Grand Line who has studied Blackfoot style." He pointed his chin in the figure's direction. "Who taught you?"

The Bishop's cloven hoof gleamed against the sunlight.

"Someone we've both since surpassed." Came the reply.

Marion appeared beside Sanji and raised her sword, but Sanji took hold of her shoulder.

"I've got this. You help Smoker."

"You don't know what he's capable of." Marion glanced at him.

"I know better than anyone." Sanji smirked.

He kicked himself forward and brought up his left foot to connect with Bishop's chest, but his leg was parried by a dark, muscular shin and both of them spun through the air as they each tried to deal another blow. Sanji landed on his hands and flipped himself back into the air. Bishop, perhaps reluctant to land upside down and let the cloak slip, took the extra moment to pivot in midair and land on the cloven hooves. Sanji caught the figure with a hard, right kick to the side and sent the robed assailant catapulting across the sand to land in the weeds.

Sanji spun on his heel to heat the leather and tapped his cigarette against his sole to ignite it.

"I've been looking for someone to kick clear across this island since I arrived." He spoke with fury and charged towards his fallen opponent. "Fortunately for the sword wielder, I don't engage women. But for you… All bets are off."

Sanji landed another blow directly underneath Bishop's chin and set the cloak on fire with his blazing shoe as the figure was thrown backwards again to land hard against the unforgiving parched earth.

The lanky cook hit the sand again and stood up straight, his eyes as fiery as his foot as he marched forward preparing to deal another blow.

Bishop stood and tossed the burning cloak aside, revealing large violet eyes, and petite chin, smooth shoulders, and a pale exposed midriff. The chest was small, but the bumps were visible enough underneath the leather top to confirm what was present underneath.

Sanji froze in his tracks as the woman wiped the blood from her lower lip and stood back up, her cloven feet planted firmly in the dirt.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She smirked.


	3. Chapter 3

**PART THREE: Baratie **

Hobbling sideways in between the overstocked kitchen counters stationed upon the floating restaurant Baratie, Sanji grimaced as each chef he passed stacked an additional pan on top of the massive pile he was already struggling to carry. As he reached the sink and delicately set the pile down the man working the station dropped a massive pot into the soapy basin and sloshed water down Sanji's clothes.

"Hey! Watch it!" He glowered, picking a piece of soggy pasta out of his hair.

"Sorry kid." The man shrugged as he lit up a smoke. "Didn't see you there."

"Spare one of those?" Sanji pointed at the cigarette.

"Don't let Zeff see you." The man shrugged as he reluctantly offered up one of his smokes.

Sanji retreated from the mess of steam and cutlery that was the kitchen during the dinner hour and disappeared onto the back deck. He had to be quick. He had maybe five minutes before their head chef Zeff noticed Sanji wasn't running dishes back and forth between stations and he needed every second to appreciate the tobacco. His lungs weren't accustomed to the habit yet and half of every smoke break he spent coughing, but it was worth it to feel like a real part of the restaurant's team.

He sat down carefully by the edge of the walkway and let his sore legs swing free over the side as he smoked. He wanted more than anything else to relax in a warm bath and let his bruised lower body soak, but he knew that wasn't likely to happen. After the restaurant closed, he had an hour of cleaning to do in the kitchen before Zeff would call him for their evening Blackfoot training session. After that concluded he had six hours of freedom before prep began in the kitchen the following morning, and every moment of sleep he could scrounge was precious if he wanted to be alert for his next training session at dawn.

Sanji took a long drag on his smoke as the warm sea breeze caught his blonde hair and he let out a quick barrage of coughs. Zeff would probably have him slicing onions all week if he caught him smoking again. He had explained to him it would ruin his taste buds, and that anyone who sought recognition as a masterclass chef had to have a refined, untainted palate, but Sanji was willing to take the risk. Aside from making him feel included, he hadn't failed to notice most of the gentlemen who came into the restaurant with beautiful ladies on their arm tended to smoke, and Sanji definitely wanted to attract some beautiful ladies when he grew up.

He coughed again as he finished his cigarette and tossed it into the sea. As he made to stand up, he paused. He could have sworn he heard another small cough from behind him. It sounded muffled, as though someone was trying to hide that they were close by.

He stood up and walked over to a crate filled with emergency life vests and peered around the side. Crouched in an awkward, timid position was a young girl with green hair wearing one of the Baratie chef's coats like a jacket.

Her eyes went wide when he noticed her and Sanji immediately took a few steps back to show he hadn't meant to startle her.

"Who are you?" He asked in complete bewilderment. There hadn't been any patrons with children that day, and even if there were, the only way to access this side of the deck was by walking through the kitchens.

"How did you get here?" He tried again, but the young girl didn't respond. It took him a moment to realize her mouth was full. When she finished chewing, she raised a finger to her lips and indicated for him to be quiet.

"I just needed to eat something." She whispered. "I'll be gone by tomorrow."

The girl had a very slow and cautious manner of speech and hadn't blinked once since Sanji had found her. Her hair was cut boyishly short and her arms and hands seemed delicate and frail like they hadn't had real strength behind them for a long while. She reminded him of a mouse trapped in a snake's cage, delicately watching wherever she set her foot down so as not to alert the vicious beast, but at the same time still driven by the hope that she would breath free air again.

"What are you eating?" Sanji asked. The girl had been careful to keep her meal hidden safely between her clasped hands, but he could tell by the smell it wasn't fresh.

"I'll be gone by tomorrow." She repeated. "Just don't tell anyone-"

"I can get you something better than that!" Sanji blurted out in annoyance as he finally realized she had been digging around in the discarded produce bin and found the better half of an old potato.

Without pausing for a response Sanji ran back to the kitchen and returned three minutes later with one plate stacked high with freshly baked bread, steamed halibut, rice and vegetables, and the second plate of shrimp jambalaya.

"Here… don't move…" He instructed her. "I forgot utensils. And a chair. And you need something to drink." He stood up again and ran back to the kitchen. By the time he was back the stowaway had inhaled most of the food using her bare hands.

"Here." Sanji smirked as he produced a stool for her to sit on. "I found some clean silverware and some tea." He set down the tokens of good faith on the crate next to her.

"You didn't have to dig through the trash if you wanted something to eat." He continued. "We would have fed you even if you don't have money."

The girl gave him a suspicious look as she continued eating, barely pausing to take a breath between her sips of tea and mouthfuls of fresh, warm food.

"I'm Sanji." He said as he sat down across from her. "What's your name? How did you get here?"

She paused as she looked back at him with an expression of confused dismay on her face. "I'm Marion. I don't know…" She whispered after a moment. "I… made myself fly…."

"Huh?" Sanji asked. "What does that mean?"

"I was…" Marion pointed out at the horizon. "I was out on a ship, and I was hungry, and this boat smelled really good, so I closed my eyes and… then I was here. I made myself fly…"

"I don't get it." Sanji made a perplexed face. "You flew here like a seagull?"

"No…" She shook her head. "I just… was here."

"Why didn't you fly back?" He asked.

"I… couldn't." Her voice quivered after a long pause.

"When was this?" Sanji tried. "When you first flew here?"

The girl paused to think. "There was a big pot of soup…."

"Thursday?" Sanji's jaw dropped in astonishment. "You've been here nearly five days, and no one has seen you? You've been eating trash this whole time?"

She gave him a shameful look, as though she realized she had been acting irresponsibly, and he quickly changed his tone of voice.

"I mean, I'm not mad at you for stealing food or anything, I just wish I had found you sooner so I could feed you!"

Her spirits seemed to lift at that.

"Where are you going tomorrow?" He asked.

"Nowhere." She admitted. "I don't know how to leave or where to go. I just said that so you would leave me alone."

As Marion became more animated and shifted her weight on the deck, Sanji noticed faded bruises on her ankles as she crossed her legs in front of her.

"This ship you were on… Did it have blue and white sails?" He tried.

She looked up from her meal and caught his eye. "Why?"

"You were on that Navy ship," Sanji spoke aloud in revelation, more to himself than to her. "The Vice Admiral came on board. He mentioned to Zeff he was carrying prisoners. Did they have you chained up?"

The frightened look appeared in her eye again.

"That's why you stayed hidden this whole time. You thought we'd turn you back over to the Navy if we found you." Sanji continued without waiting for an answer.

"I thought this was a Navy station." She admitted. "By the time I realized it wasn't I had stolen too much food."

"What did you do?" Sanji asked. "You're just a kid. Why would they chain you up?"

She hesitated and took another swig of tea. "You won't tell anyone Sanji?" She looked sideways at him again, her face revealing hints that she wanted to trust him.

He nodded his head.

"I stole this really important fruit. I was hungry." She stated without much remorse. "Apparently it was very valuable. I only took one bite, but suddenly everyone began to look at me like I was a monster. They took me from my parents and locked me up before putting me on the ship."

"A Devil Fruit?" He asked, a cold pit of concern starting to settle in his stomach. Sanji remembered what he had read about the pirates with Devil Fruit abilities on the Grand Line when he was researching the All Blue.

She shrugged. "I lived on a very small island. Nothing grew there. We relied on Navy ships coming to supply us with goods in exchange for our working on their ships. I was always hungry. I saw a piece of fruit, and now I'm a criminal."

"No, you're not." Sanji shook his head. "You're a scared, hungry kid. They should have never done that to you, no matter what you stole."

She smiled at him as the door swung open and Zeff clomped out onto the deck, his wooden leg pounding the planks beneath him as if he were driving in nails.

"Sanji!" He bellowed, and the young boy shot to his feet immediately.

"What are you doing eating alone out here? Eat in the kitchen! There's work to do."

His head chef paused. "Have you been smoking again?"

Sanji glanced around in a panic to discover Marion had vanished, as if into thin air. He was so relieved all he could think to say as he turned back to look Zeff in the eye was: "Yep."

Zeff rolled his eyes. "I may as well remove your tongue since you care so little about it, but then you wouldn't be able to read the specials to the customers. I'm forbidding the staff from sharing with you anymore. Finish up and get back inside!"

"Yes sir." Sanji acknowledged as Zeff turned around and marched back into the kitchen.

He turned back just in time to see Marion reappear next to him as if walking through an invisible door.

"Did you make yourself fly just now?" He asked.

She nodded, a bread roll still clenched between her teeth and her teacup still gripped in her hand.

Sanji was suddenly able to piece together how Marion had managed to escape her shackles and board the floating restaurant without disembarking from the Navy ship. The Devil Fruit she had eaten allowed her to teleport. To alter her location based on line-of-sight.

He smirked and reached out to take his hand in hers. "Looks like we'll be able to help each other out. You'll be safe here with me, Marion. I promise."

She swallowed her food and for the first time cracked a smile wide enough to show her teeth. "Thank you, Sanji. Do you have any clothes I could borrow?"

He smirked. "I'm the only one on board in your size. Want to try on a suit jacket?"

* * *

Sanji wiped the sweat from his brow as Zeff set four watermelons atop four different barrels scattered around the deck. Most of the morning they had been working on accuracy. Zeff would randomly toss a piece of old fruit or spoiled vegetables up into the air and instruct Sanji to strike with his right or left foot. He had succeeded in every challenge that had been assigned to him that morning but was suddenly confused about why Zeff would have him targeting stationary objects.

He had developed enough leg strength where kicking through three watermelons lined up in a row was easy, so if this wasn't a test of power or accuracy, what was the old man planning?

"Range…" Zeff answered his unspoken question. "Destroy all four melons with one blow, without knocking over the barrels."

Sanji looked at him like he was crazy. "How am I supposed to do that? They're spread too far apart. I can't stretch myself like an elastic man."

"What? Do you think your opponents are going to line up within your leg reach and wait to be struck? Blackfoot style's only weakness is the restriction of movement. Of relying too heavily on the expectation of close combat. You must turn that weakness into strength. Extend yourself beyond the length of your legs. Astound your enemy with the infinite range of your limited reach."

"Well, I'm not going to jump if all you're packing in my chute are vague instructions, old man." Sanji countered defiantly.

Above them, thunder reverberated its way across the sky.

"Blackfoot style more than any other requires a literal leap of faith." Zeff responded. "A swordmaster may teach you the way of the blade. An archer may instruct you on the flight of an arrow, but I cannot instruct you how to use your own legs. You know better than anyone their full potential, and what may work for one man may not be effective for another. I can only assign you the target to aim for. You must bridge the gap. There is no single right answer."

"My legs say I'm only human." Sanji retorted.

"Are you?" Zeff replied with authority. "It does not require a Devil Fruit to perform feats of great strength and skill. But if you choose to decide you are only capable of average human abilities, then you shall forever remain trapped to compete on that playing field."

Sanji rolled his eyes. He stared at all four melons carefully for a few moments and then charged forward. He flipped himself onto his hands, swung his right leg in a wide arc and extended it as far as he could. His heel grazed three, leaving shallow imprints on the outer skin. The fourth remained untouched.

Sanji flipped himself back onto his feet. "Doing it in four swipes would be easy. But one? How am I supposed to accomplish that?"

Zeff shrugged and pivoted on his wooden leg. "That's for you to solve. Let's see if you can succeed before the rain begins to fall."

The master chef returned into the kitchen and shut the door behind him. Sanji hissed with irritation as he turned back to look at the melons.

"You need to be faster." A voice came from above.

Sanji turned and glanced upward. Marion sat on the deck above wearing one of his pinstriped suits, his favorite blue necktie tie hanging crookedly from her slender neck as she kicked her legs. She beamed happily as she took a drag on her cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"What does being faster have to do with extending the reach of my leg?" Sanji asked as he crossed his arms. "Did you bring any smokes for me?"

She winked and teleported herself down next to him and handed him two cigarettes.

"Got them from the crew's quarters." She explained. "You were right. Only swiping two or three at a time will prevent anyone from noticing."

Sanji stuck one of the smokes behind his ear for later and lit up the second with the lighter kept in his back pocket.

"Still, best to pick a different bunk every time. They'll catch on after a while" She blew a smoke cloud into the air above her head as the thunder boomed again.

"What were you saying about being faster?"

Marion bent forward and placed her hands on the deck, mimicking what Sanji had attempted to do before.

"He said one single blow. He didn't mention anything about how to use your arms. You planted your arms like posts and swung your leg around by pivoting your body. Walk across the deck a few steps using the palms of your hands and follow through with a longer swing of your leg." She instructed him as she straightened up.

She pointed towards the melons as she continued: "Don't aim for the first one. Aim for the second two. The first will just get caught in you lining up the kick."

Sanji raised an eyebrow. "I've never tried moving on my hands that way."

"People move their legs to better throw a punch. You need to do the reverse when you swing your legs." She explained like it was the easiest thing in the world to contemplate.

"What about the fourth melon?" He asked.

"Worry about the first three for now." She suggested. "The fourth can wait."

Sanji spent the next twenty minutes walking across the deck on his hands, balancing on one palm and the other, Marion helping him occasionally by holding his heels to help him keep his balance.

"Honestly…" She teased him. "How would you have accomplished any of this without me?"

Sanji glanced up as her from his inverted position. "Maybe I wouldn't." He admitted. "Maybe you're the one that'll help me be more than just human."

"Baked Alaska for dessert tonight?" She asked excitedly as he jumped back onto his feet and checked his hands for splinters.

"The quicker I smash some melons the quicker we can eat." He confirmed.

The rain began to sprinkle upon the deck, and both instinctively shielded their cigarettes with their hands.

"Then hurry up before we get soaked." She insisted.

"Hold this." He handed her is smoke and then lined himself up on the deck.

"I have to do this quick before the deck gets too slippery."

Sanji took two long strides and then flipped himself forward onto his hands. Winding his lower body up like a pitcher at the plate, he danced a few paces forward nimbly on his hands and followed through. His swing knocked the first and second melons off and nudged the third as well but didn't come anywhere near the fourth.

In rapid succession, Marion teleported across the deck and replaced the fallen melons with fresh ones before reappearing at his side.

"You can teleport with melons now?" Sanji raised a curly eyebrow.

"Yep." She smirked as she exhaled a ring of smoke. "I've been getting better at it."

He reached out to her for his cigarette back, but she stubbed it out on the railing instead. "Not until you get this. I want dessert."

She smirked and teleported herself back up to the deck above to watch.

Sanji spent the next two hours in the pouring rain hurling himself forwards, right-side-up, upside-down and sideways at the melons, approaching them from different angles, and every time he destroyed them, Marion would reappear and replace them for him, just to disappear again.

His feet and legs were sore, he was drenched and freezing, and he had melon all over his shoes and pant leg.

"I'm not going to get this!" He raged. "It's not possible!"

From under her umbrella Marion lit up another smoke and contemplated.

"How far could you kick one of those?" She asked him suddenly.

"Why?" He glared up at her. "What difference would that make?"

"Every time you've swung your leg your goal has been to cave in the melons and make them explode. Yeah, I get your legs are strong, but being strong doesn't mean you have to be destructive. You can be delicate and strong at the same time."

Sanji paused as he glanced around the mess of fruit debris all over the deck. He glanced down at the blisters starting to form on his hands, and finally at the fourth melon he had yet to strike. He glanced rapidly across all four, and a knowing smirk formed across his face.

"I get what you're saying."

He ran forward, flipped himself onto his hands, and swung both of his legs in helicopter fashion. Pivoting on his upper body, he swung his legs, scooped up the first two using his toes and heels, adjusted his stance on his hands, and hurled the two he was wielding with his feet at the other two that were stationary. The four melons collided in two great wet crashes and the pieces were hurled overboard into the East Blue.

Sanji flipped himself over and landed on his left foot and right knee.

"One swing with each leg equals one blow. All four targets destroyed. Infinite range with limited reach." He lit up the soaking wet smoke that had been tucked behind his ear and glanced up at Marion.

She was stuffing her face with a plate of Baked Alaska under her umbrella.

"Sorry, I teleported to the kitchen really fast. What did I miss?"

* * *

As dawn broke over the horizon Sanji turned off the water in his cabin sink and toweled off his face. He could slice vegetables masterfully upon a cutting board in the kitchens, so it had always annoyed him that he had never really been able to figure out how to shave without cutting himself.

Today was only the second time since he had begun shaving that he had succeeded without nicking himself and he was feeling proud. As he finished buttoning up his shirt and turned to grab his suit jacket, he heard the sheets on his bed shift.

"Hey there, handsome…" A soft voice tickled his ears.

A massive grin broke across his face as he caught sight of her in the mirror and spun around.

"What took you? You've been gone for months!"

Marion casually crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward, one delicate curl of green hair caressing her dimple as she beamed at him. She was wearing a long black trench coat over a strapless red dress and knee-high boots. The dress was doing an excellent job of showcasing her blossoming female curves.

Marion had eventually grown tired of hiding on the floating restaurant and had tearfully told Sanji one evening she needed space to grow and discover the full extent of her Devil Fruit abilities. She had kissed him for the first time on the dock right before she has teleported herself onto a passing merchant ship.

"I promise I'll come back." She had whispered right before she vanished.

Sanji had felt his heart break as the ship had vanished into the sunset. She had reappeared several weeks later with a story about how she had bartered passage on board the ship by teleporting crates of supplies from the hold below to the deck as they were unloading. She earned enough money to buy new clothes and then hopped a new ship and traveled around the East Blue for a while before deciding to return.

She and Sanji had a small celebratory feast and a few days later she had teleported herself onto another ship. So had her pattern of coming and going continued for some time until her being away became more common than her being there with him. She tried to encourage him to leave with her a few times, but he always declined, stating he was happy for her, but he owed Zeff a debt that had yet to be fully repaid.

The last time she had returned she had proudly declared she had joined a crew of pirates and it was their intention to travel to the Grand Line. Sanji had hardly heard her, he had been so mesmerized by her tanned, lean figure and long hair that his jaw had been on the floor and his heart had been racing. That had been the first night they had shared his bed.

"Our crew needs a cook." She had told him as she leaned into him and kissed his chin. "Not someone who can just make rice, like an actual cook. Your Blackfoot style must be formidable by now. You'd fit in perfectly with us."

Sanji stroked her hair. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not a pirate. I belong here."

"Sanji…." She propped herself up on one elbow. "I know Zeff saved your life, but is it so unthinkable that we could belong together instead?"

He stroked her cheek and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I promise, one day I'll leave here with you, but not as a pirate. I'll leave when I've learned all there is to know about being a master chef. Then we can open our own place."

"What if that's not the life I want?" She asked. "What if I want to see the world and travel the Grand Line? Imagine all the different kinds of cuisine there will be to sample? All kinds of new food to learn how to cook?"

"I admit…" He gave a shy smirk and ruffled his hair. "I do want to do some traveling one day. I want to find the All Blue and explore the variety of fish it has to offer."

"The All Blue?" She snorted playfully. "I'm pretty sure that's just a myth, Sanji, but whatever it takes to get you off this floating buffet."

She had stayed for another couple of days before teleporting away again during the night without saying goodbye, but leaving a note stating she would be back with tales of the Grand Line.

Now she sat before him on his bed, looking as formidable as any pirate he had ever encountered, but no less gorgeous than she had been when he had last seen her.

His eyes bugged out of his head in shameless attraction and he had nearly floated over to her to give her a long kiss as she stood and embraced him.

After a moment he reached out towards his bedside table drawer and handed her a rose, the stem delicately manicured.

"So happy you're back, beautiful…"

"This is fresh!" She exclaimed as she took the rose and gave him a warm smile. "How did you know I was coming?"

"I didn't. I put a fresh one there every day."

She gave him a long kiss and let her trench coat fall to the ground.

"How was the Grand Line?" He asked between kisses.

"Later…" She replied as she pulled him back onto the bed with her.

Afterward, they both sat smoking on the roof of the restaurant, sunning themselves in the warmth of the new day. Sanji wore only his shorts while Marion wore one of his button-up shirts, the buttons opened a third of the way down so she could maintain her tan.

"I'm the first mate on my crew." She reported as she slipped the rose delicately into her hair. "We were assigned to deliver a shipment of supplies to Drum Island and return to East Blue with payment. Our ship nearly got eaten by a whale when we first arrived."

Sanji was only half paying attention as he gazed at her in dumbstruck awe and admiration, little hearts floating around his head like butterflies.

"I've met a few other Devil Fruit eaters." She continued. "Both pirates and marines alike. I'm pretty sure five of the seven Warlords are Devil Fruit eaters."

She turned to look at him. "Is Zeff going to wonder where you are?"

Sanji shook his head. "I've worked twenty-three days in a row. He's been on me to take a break."

She leaned over to him and lit a new cigarette by pressing it into the tip of his. "I need to quit these…" She sighed. "I can always taste them now. It ruins the flavor of my wine."

Marion let her eyes travel down Sanji's long muscular legs, still lean as beanpoles but tight with years of well-toned muscle.

"Training going well?" She inquired.

"According to the old man I've learned all I can from him."

Marion reached over and took his hand. "Speaking of which, you know what I'm going to ask you next."

Sanji exhaled a plume of smoke into the sea breeze. "I sure do." He admitted.

"Our cook is terrible. Not only does he hate doing it, but he can't even peel a potato." She reported. "Half of the men on board are worthless, Sanji. I need someone who will inspire them, lift group morale with the food. I need someone I can trust."

"How's the captain?" Sanji asked as he extinguished the cigarette on the restaurant's roof.

"He's… well… He enjoys what he does." She admitted. "Some of the crew would prefer if I was in charge. With your support, I could take them with me and captain my own ship. No more deliveries. Just long journeys filled with adventure. I'd really love to have you by my side for all of them. I'll even help you look for the All Blue."

Sanji smirked and leaned over to rest his forehead against hers. "You know what? That sounds great…"

"You mean it?" An excited smile broke across her face more beautiful than any sunrise.

"Give me some time." He responded. "I need to figure out what to tell Zeff, but sure, afterward, I'll go out to sea with you. I'd be honored to have you as my captain."

"Thank you, Sanji…" She beamed.

"Just remember, I'm a cook first, pirate second. And I'm not going to stop wearing ties."

Marion smirked and pulled him in close for another kiss.

"I wouldn't have it any other way…"

* * *

That night Sanji was down in the kitchen alone tidying up the prep area. He prepared a tray with tea and cakes for himself and Marion to share up in his cabin and placed another rose beside the teapot.

He lit a new cigarette using the gas burner before shutting it off. Picking up the tray, he was about to turn off the single light shining above the counter when he paused a moment, and carefully set the tray back down.

He heard footsteps walking across the dining room in the direction of the stairs which led up to the old man's office. That didn't make sense to him. They obviously weren't Zeff's footsteps. Sanji could recognize the rhythm of the pounding of the chef's wooden leg from across the restaurant. No one else had any reason to go up there.

Sanji extinguished the light and carefully removed his shoes so he could better move across the wooden dining hall without being heard. He poked his head from out of the kitchen and watched as a figure climbed the spiral stairs rapidly, taking them two at a time, not really attempting to remain quiet and stealthy.

He wasn't anyone Sanji recognized. The man was tall and burly with spikey red hair and an orange vest which was far too small to fasten shut across his broad chest. Keeping to the shadows Sanji followed him carefully up the stairs. Once at the landing he noticed the stranger had two meat cleavers fastened on either side of his belt. They were in terrible condition with chips and rust spots all along the blades and definitely hadn't come from Baratie's kitchen. Was this guy a stowaway? Had he been hiding somewhere out on the docks for night to fall so he could steal food?

No… If he was hungry Sanji would have had no problem feeding him, but this intruder had walked right by the kitchen and storeroom and beelined it upstairs towards the office where Zeff kept all the money the restaurant earned stored in his safe.

Sanji tensed and was about to confront the man as he prepared to walk through the office door Zeff never had any reason to lock, when a hand suddenly covered his mouth and in a sudden flash he found himself outside on the dock. He gasped and dropped his cigarette as he fell to his knees in bewilderment and panic.

"What the…?" He gasped.

"It's okay…" Marion soothed him with a whisper as she knelt beside him.

"Did… Did you just teleport with me?" Sanji stared at her in amazement as he suddenly found his bearings.

"Yes." She tried pressing her finger to his lips, but he was already climbing back onto his feet.

"You can do that?" He hissed in amazement. Suddenly, the urgency of the matter returned to him. "Who is that guy? What's he doing here?"

Marion immediately took a deep breath laced with guilt. "You weren't supposed to see him. It's okay though, he's with me…"

"What?" Sanji barked. "Why is he going into-"

From the floor above came a roar of fury and a haggard cry. Sanji and Marion spun around towards the noise and suddenly there came a crash followed by the splintering of wood.

Sanji sprinted back up the dock and launched himself towards the restaurant doors, delivering a barefoot kick hard enough to shatter the lock and force them open. The red-haired man had been hurled from the upper balcony and had crashed down onto one of the dining room tables, breaking it in two. Zeff stood on the landing above them besides the broken railing, looking down at the intruder with blood running down his white chef's jacket from a wound under his arm.

"Sanji!" Zeff barked. "Get out of here!"

"Are you all right?" Sanji cried out, but the stranger had climbed back onto his feet and had pulled the meat cleavers from his belt.

"You were supposed to be in bed old man!" he spat, a murderous grin spreading across his crooked face.

Sanji tore forward at the man in fury to deliver a kick, but the pirate noticed him coming and threw half of the broken table towards him, forcing him to dodge sideways and miss his target.

Zeff jumped down from above and landed on his left leg, knee bent with his wooden leg up and pointed forward like a spear. The stranger advanced on him and swung the meat cleavers, Zeff managing to deflect the blows easily with his wooden leg.

Sanji regained his balance and prepared to launch another kick when he heard Marion scream behind him.

"Gunnar! Stand down! No one was supposed to get hurt!"

The red-haired man ignored her and delivered another blow that sliced through Zeff's wooden leg. Nimbly, almost effortlessly, the man scooped up a blade from one of the tables, spun it in his hand between his fingers and buried it in Zeff's side.

Sanji grunted in rage and delivered a blow into the man's ribs that sent him flying through the swinging doors into the kitchen.

Marion teleported herself next to Zeff and tore the tablecloth away from the nearest tabletop to cover his wound.

The man named Gunnar began to laugh maniacally from the kitchen.

"What have you done?" Sanji screamed at Marion as they heard the man regaining his feet and stomping back out towards them.

Marion looked back up at him with crestfallen eyes.

A meat cleaver was hurled out towards Sanji as the doors continued to flap back and forth. The young chef leapt into the air, pivoted his body and kicked the blade downward where it buried itself in the carpet with a hard thud.

"Gunnar!" Marion screamed. "Stop it!"

The man reemerged from the kitchen, blood running down his face from a wound above his eyebrow, wielding in each fist a collection of knives he had stolen from the chopping blocks.

He licked one of the blades and began hurling them at Sanji, one after another in rapid succession.

Sanji kicked himself upwards, spinning his body in a slow circle like a figure skater and landed behind another table which he was able to kick over sideways and use to shield himself. Blade after blade caught themselves in the thick wood as the man continued to hurl his deadly projectiles. Marion appeared beside Sanji and grabbed his arm, and a moment later they had vanished and reappeared outside on the dock again.

"Stay here! I'll take care of him!" Marion drew a long blade she had been hiding under her coat.

Sanji was back on his feet in an instant. "Keep out of my way!" he glared at her.

Gunnar launched himself out of one of the restaurant windows in a shower of glass and landed on the deck across from them. Marion vanished, then reappeared next to him and put the blade to his throat attempting to stop him, but he caught the blade in his jaw and bit it in half like it was a carrot stick. He swung his arm and knocked Marion sideways into a stack of crates.

Sanji sprinted forward and launched another kick at the towering man, but this time Gunnar was ready for him. He grabbed Sanji's outstretched leg and slammed him down into the deck with a bone-jolting slam. He stomped his foot down onto Sanji's chest and the young man felt blood well up in the back of his throat. Gunnar raised the cleaver over his head, ready to bring it down and chop Sanji's face in two when suddenly Marion was there beside them again.

Sanji caught a glimpse of her plunging a fishing spear through Gunnar's upper thigh, a long length of rope attached to its end leading back to one of the cement blocks the restaurant used to keep the crates of food from shifting on deck. Marion swung her arm forward, wrapped it around Gunnar's neck in a headlock, and suddenly, both had vanished along with the length of rope and the stone block.

Sanji heard a splash from far out in the water to his right and Marion appeared back on deck a moment later, drenched and coughing up seawater.

Climbing to his feet, Sanji gazed out at the water where he had heard the splash, but the sea was quiet, and no sound echoed back from where the noise had come from.

"He's gone…" Marion coughed. "Sank."

Sanji bent over to take her arm and lift her up, and they both limped back into the kitchen. He helped her to sit down on one of the prep stools and she removed her soaking trench coat and let it drop to the group with a wet splat.

"Zeff!" Sanji called out and ran into the dining room.

The old man was there, being attended to by four other chefs. They had cut off his jacket and removed the knife from his side and were working to staunch the bleeding from his wound.

Sanji heaved a sigh of relief and felt the back of his head where it had struck the dock and it came away wet with blood. Gritting his teeth, he marched back into the kitchen and slammed his fist down on the table beside Marion.

"What did you do?!" he bellowed. "Why did you bring him here?! He nearly killed us!"

Marion wiped the beginning of tears from her eyes, her green hair clinging to her face in wet clumps.

"I'm sorry Sanji. My crew wouldn't reroute our ship back here unless there was something in it for them. They wanted compensation. So, I told them about the safe. I made them swear only one man would come aboard with me, and no one would get hurt."

"You teleported him on board…" Sanji's felt the rage build inside him and threaten to overwhelm his better judgment.

"It was the only way I could get back to you…" She stood up and looked Sanji in the eye. "I wanted you to come to sea with me…"

Sanji saw red and his hand seemed to strike out on its own accord and grabbed her by the throat, forcing her back into the wall.

"I trusted you…" He snarled as a single tear rolled down his cheek and fell from his chin down to the tiled floor below.

"Sanji…" She gasped as her hands grabbed hold of his. "Please… Zeff wasn't supposed to be in his office…."

Sanji reached out and took hold of the teapot he had prepared for them earlier. Grabbing it by the handle he tipped its contents out onto the floor with a loud steamy hiss and then gripped the porcelain firmly like a hammer, imagining striking her with it directly between her eyes over and over again.

As if sensing what he wanted to do, Marion shut her eyes and lowered her hands. She could have teleported herself to safety, but she didn't.

"I'm sorry Sanji…" She whispered.

He swung the pot forward and slammed it against the edge of the counter beside her where it shattered into dozens of pieces. After a moment of deafening silence, he released his hold on her throat and fell backward onto the ground in a sitting position. The blood that had been covering his hand now stained Marion's neck and glimmered in the faint light leaking in from the dining room as she fell forward onto her knees.

Suddenly they were both bathed in light and the door swung open. Zeff stood there, his shirt torn and wound bandaged, limping forward on his good leg while his broken stub of a wooden leg hung useless beside it.

"Sanji!" Zeff barked as he switched on the overhead lights and saw them both on the floor.

"Help the young lady up! She's family."

Sanji immediately obeyed and helped Marion get back to her feet.

"Are you both all right?" Zeff asked.

Sanji nodded without making eye contact. Marion wiped at her eyes.

Zeff turned and called to the men over his shoulder. "Bring me some fresh clothes for the lady and let's get the stoves up and running. We could all use some hot soup."

* * *

Sanji stood outside the restaurant entrance in a fresh suit chain-smoking a pack of cigarettes while staring out across the dark water, wondering if the pain in his heart would eventually subside or if he would just have to learn to live with it. The way Zeff had learned to make do with one good leg.

"Are you smoking again String Bean?" The old man muttered as he clomped over to stand next to Sanji, his new wooden leg fastened firmly in place.

"Yep." Sanji muttered.

"You hardly touched your soup." Zeff said as he leaned on the railing next to his young apprentice.

"I wasn't hungry…" Sanji replied.

"Foolish boy. You think we made it because you were hungry? It was comfort food to calm the nerves."

"I don't deserve it." Sanji muttered, unable to look the old man in the eye. "I'm sorry Zeff. It's all my fault you got stabbed. I kept her a secret all these years…"

"She was never a secret." Zeff huffed.

Sanji turned to him in surprise.

"Boy, are you really that thick? I can account for every scrap of food on this barge. Do you think I would overlook you feeding her all that time? Didn't you hear me call her family? She's always been one of us."

"No, she isn't." Sanji gritted his teeth. "I thought she was, but she's gone full pirate. She betrayed me and brought someone on board to steal from us. He nearly killed you."

"It's a scratch…" Zeff shrugged. "I've spoken to her. From what I understand, she did it reluctantly."

"That doesn't matter." Sanji hissed. "She could have gone about it another way. If she had asked, I would have given her my entire pay."

"You don't make enough," Zeff responded without humor. "Are you really upset with her, or are you using that to mask the fury you feel at yourself for what you almost did to her?"

Sanji remembered the tearful conversation he had with his mother all those years ago.

"I'll never hurt anyone like that… especially you…"

"I almost crossed a line." Sanji lowered his head in shame. "I never want to get that close again. It's not about whether they deserve punishment. It can never be by my hand. I made a promise."

Zeff placed a hand on Sanji's back as he choked back sobs.

"I'm sorry Zeff…" He repeated himself in a hoarse whisper.

"I forgive you." The old man replied. "Now, more importantly, forgive that young woman, and forgive yourself."

* * *

As the sun rose Marion stood on the loading dock, trench coat dried and back around her shoulders with a sack of gold in her hand.

Sanji walked out of the back door and stood next to her. They stood in silence for a moment as the wind caught their hair. Sanji offered her a smoke.

"Thanks, but I'm quitting." She said softly.

He lit up his own. "More for me."

After another awkward silence Marion spoke up.

"Zeff gave me half the gold in his safe. I tried to refuse, but he wouldn't let me argue. He said he still had enough to repair the damage and pay his staff, and he didn't want me going back to my crew empty-handed."

"Gold doesn't mean much to him." Sanji shrugged. "People's well being does. Speaking of which, how's your neck?" He half-turned to look at her.

"I've hurt it worse washing my hair." She replied simply.

"There's something I never told you about my parents." Sanji lowered the cigarette away from his lips. "My father was a drunk. A big mean drunk. My mother was this petite, shy, beautiful young woman. When he got drunk, he would strike out at everyone and everything. Most of the time that was me and my mother, and she took every blow meant for me including every one of her own. Most of my childhood was just sitting on her lap and crying, trying to clean the blood off her face, but she never stopped smiling and trying to comfort me."

Sanji paused for a moment and let the lump in his throat fade away.

"Sometimes she would be so sore she couldn't cook for us, so I learned to help her, and eventually, I was doing it on my own. That's where I got my start. I couldn't understand why he would do that to her if he loved her, so I made a promise to her and myself, that no matter the circumstances, I would never grow up to be like him. He hurt her so many times, I figured it was my responsibility to make up for what he did."

"What happened to them?" Marion asked.

Sanji shrugged. "He hurt her again one night. She went to bed. Never woke up."

Marion turned to look at him, her face distraught and horrified.

"Sanji…" She muttered. "I had no idea."

"I ran away." He continued. "I hopped a ship. Wound up with Zeff. You know the rest."

Marion rested her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry."

He tossed his unfinished cigarette into the ocean.

"No. I'm sorry." He replied. "I'm sorry I grabbed you. I'm sorry I threatened you. And I'm sorry I can't ever be with you again."

Marion dropped her hand from his arm.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't know how long it will take to forgive you for what you did. Because of you the man who saved my life, gave me everything, made me what I am, nearly died in his own restaurant. The restaurant I belong in. What I'm saying is, after today, don't come back."

Marion stood beside him in silence for a long moment, then she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I understand."

She opened her jacket and showed him the rose from beside the teapot tucked in her pocket. "Was this meant for me?" She asked.

Sanji glanced over to her and nodded. "It was."

"I'll hold onto it." She closed her jacket. "Use it to remind myself about the young chef who spent so much time kicking things and made the best food I've ever eaten. The only man I've ever loved."

She wiped at her eyes again and continued.

"I hope you do leave this place one day, Sanji. That you go on adventures and find the All Blue. Find some lucky ladies to sail with that you can take care of and cook for. The Grand Line needs more men like you."

Upon the horizon her ship appeared, lazily swaying with the breeze.

"That's my ride." She sniffed.

"Give 'em hell." Sanji acknowledged.

"I will." She leaned over, grabbed his tie and pulled him in for a quick kiss. "Goodbye, Blackfoot Sanji." She whispered.

And she was gone.

"I love you too…" Sanji replied to the empty air.

He watched the ship for the next quarter of an hour until it disappeared back beyond the horizon line. He couldn't fight back the tears. He was still only human.

* * *

Zeff and Sanji stood by the entrance to the restaurant several weeks later as a luxury liner began emptying its passengers onto their dock for a special luncheon.

"You know the menu by heart?" Zeff asked him bluntly.

"Backwards and forwards." Sanji smirked as he exhaled a plume of defiant smoke. "Relax old man, we'll be fine."

"What about the dessert menu? Do you-" But Sanji had stopped paying attention. A very pretty young woman wearing a pink bandana tied amongst her raven dark hair and a golden colored sundress had stepped down from the gangplank onto the dock and Sanji nearly glided over to her, a rose between his teeth and his eyes bugging out in wonder and glee. He immediately went down on one knee before the young woman and introduced himself.

Zeff rolled his eyes. He had worried that after Marion Sanji would never be the same. That the incident between them had cut a wound so deep into his soul that he would never recover and flourish into the man he sought to become, but he had underestimated the boy. His will outweighed his grief, and his heart was large enough to cherish the well-being of numerous women. Possibly all of them. Even those who found him more aggravating than charming.

One day the young man would grow up enough to learn he was better than Baratie, but not yet. He watched as Sanji poured his heart out to the young woman who hid her bewildered smile behind her hand.

He still had a lot of growing up to do.


	4. Chapter 4

**PART FOUR: Shadows**

Tashigi's blade clashed against the twin non-existent shadow swords wielded by Lady Rook's phantom accomplice. The fact that they were non-existent didn't prevent them from being deadly and every time her katana struck her enemy's the piercing wail of metal against metal echoed across the sand.

The young woman felt her blood boil as she nimbly parried her opponent's blows, her wet hair and clothing soppily clinging to her, its extra weight slowing her down and impairing her movements. She knew fighting against it was fruitless as there was no way she could kill it. She needed to get past it somehow and help Zoro, who was furiously battling against the shadow's host. If they could cut her down, or at the very least disarm her, the shadow wouldn't be able to harm anyone.

Parrying another blow Tashigi released her blade's handle with one of her hands and pivoted her body to spin sideways. It was a gamble to subtract the strength of one arm from the force of her attack, but she needed reach more than power at that moment. Spinning her wrist she leaned all her weight into her step forward and swiped rather than stabbed at the shadow's neck, and just as she suspected, the blade whistled through the air about level with the ghost's throat, passing directly through it delivering no damage whatsoever.

The swipe would have likely only resulted in a scratch had her opponent been made of flesh, but it still confirmed what she already knew. She couldn't hurt it. She could only defend herself against it.

The shadow lunged at her and made to stab at her torso with one of its transparent swords, but when she had turned her body sideways, she had minimized her occupied space and made herself a smaller target. The strike whistled harmlessly past her abdomen and she immediately recalled her weight and planted herself firmly back on both feet, two hands clasping her sword handle again. Her gamble had been both a stellar success and a spectacular failure. If there had been clouds overhead then maybe the shadow would simply vanish, but the sky was clear, and the sun passively continued to reinforce the actions of Lady Rook's deadly puppet.

It was just a matter of time before she lost her balance or her glasses and then she was as good as dead, murdered by something that could never be held accountable. She needed to outsmart this thing and get to Zoro before Lady Rook overwhelmed him, but in the meantime, she had to keep the eyes of the sightless creature focused on her, so it couldn't sneak up behind him and stab him in the back.

* * *

A few yards away Zoro and Lady Rook dueled across the wet sand in the shallows, her two blades countering his three as easily as if he were moving in slow motion.

Sweat ran down his face and stung his eyes as Zoro grew more and more enraged. He had encountered numerous skilled swordsmen in the past, some faster, some stronger, some smarter, but for the first time since his battle with Mihawk, he was starting to think this woman was all three. He was amazed not only at her stamina and agility but how she didn't seem to have a tell of any kind. There was no sign of weakness anywhere. No sudden flash of fear in her eye. No small favoring of a muscle to indicate a previous injury. Even her pride only extended just far enough to make her confident but still cautious. She suspected she was better than him but didn't assume it, and he couldn't even coax her into letting her guard down by making her angry. She was too well-disciplined for that.

Admittedly, there had been a flash of anger when Tashigi had rejoined the fight, but it had faded quickly after she rebirthed her shadowy henchman. Zoro was running out of ideas. He had been throwing his best at her, striking with enough force to decimate a city wall or a steel door, but she continued to absorb them like he was a cat idly batting at string. She was prepared for his best, so his best wasn't going to be enough. He had to adjust his strategy.

Zoro took half a step back and spat his third blade out and let it splash into the seawater at his feet. He took in a big gulp of air and immediately his limbs felt refreshed.

Lady Rook stared him down, ignoring the blood running down her cheek as Zoro did the fresh pain from the numerous wounds she had dealt him.

"You think you can be the best simply because you want to be?" She raised an eyebrow. "You think will-power, practice and pain is all are takes? Had I not learned to lift a sword I would have been dead before I was ten. I was forced to kill or else my captors would have starved me. My survival depended on the deaths of others, most of them my own age. But everything I ever lost, I chose to lose by my own hands. It was a necessity, and in turn, everything I ever gained was by my own hands as well."

Zoro spun his blades nimbly. "I don't keep score. I only look forwards, never behind me."

Lady Rook snarled. "After I kill you, no one will ever remember your name. Not even Mihawk."

Zoro allowed himself a smirk. "If you're the one to kill me, I don't deserve the recognition."

He launched himself forward, his blades held out to either side of him like wings, daring her to strike at his exposed chest.

"_Twin-Headed Hydra!" _ Zoro bellowed as he charged her, making it seem like he was going to swing his swords horizontally in front of him as if to take off her head. For half a second her defensive stance made it look like that was exactly what she was expecting, but at the same moment he realigned his blades, she did the same.

The attack had been a double bluff. Zoro had been anticipating her suddenly changing her position at the last moment to intercept his swift vertical strikes meant to cut her down the middle, but he had never expected her to think one step beyond that. Her blades spun to intercept his horizontal turned vertical turned stabbing attack, and she deflected both his blades as easily as they were leaves gently lifted by the breeze.

Zoro shot past her and for a few quiet moments both stood facing the opposite direction, their backs towards each other. The young man winced and felt the deep gash she cut across his left side leak blood down his pant leg. He staggered but didn't fall. He forced himself to count to five, and then he heard it.

Lady Rook let out an enraged hiss and dropped one of her swords, and Zoro made himself chuckle. After she had deflected his blade and he realized he wasn't going to connect with her torso, he let the momentum of her sword striking his own carry up the length of her arm instead of trying to overcorrect himself. Now her right forearm was sliced from wrist to elbow.

Both of them were past the point of no return. They were losing too much blood to remain clear-headed. Now it was just a matter of who could remain standing longer. They both turned to face each other again, Zoro's left hand clutching the split in his flesh under his rib.

"You… ruthless… bastard…" She gasped, almost in a congratulatory tone.

For a moment it looked like she was actually going to throw down her remaining blade and surrender, but then she raised the sword into the air, tip to the sky as if to challenge the sun.

"FLARES!" She cried out.

Somewhere up the beach, Zoro heard the pop of a shot being fired and then saw six or seven blooms of red fireworks appear on the horizon. He knew what was coming a second before it happened, and only managed to bring his swords up just in time.

There was a bright flash that for all of a single instant outshone the sun and cast multiple dark shadows behind them all. Except for Lady Rook. Her shadows swarmed Zoro all at once and slashed at him from every angle. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they vanished, and Zoro fell to his knees as blood spurted from numerous raw wounds.

* * *

Tashigi's arms were screaming in pain as she attempted time and time again to get around the shadow swordsman. She had nearly been ready to collapse in exhaustion when one of its blades had disappeared.

Glancing over towards Zoro she noticed Lady Rook and he were standing with their backs to each other as the tides washed in around their ankles. It appeared as though Zoro had wounded her enough to get her to drop one of her weapons. Now was her chance.

Taking advantage of the shadow's momentary confusion she charged past it towards the sea. Throwing off her navy jacket she grabbed her glasses in one hand and once she was waist deep, took a deep breath and dove forward into the water. Right before the cold salty waves enveloped her there was a blinding flash of light, but she didn't even get the chance to process where it had come from before she was kicking her way blindly forward across the sand, dragging her katana behind her.

* * *

Zoro fell forward onto his knees with a splash and gasped in pain as Lady Rook march towards him, carefully favoring her bleeding right arm as she held her blade outstretched with her left hand.

When she was within striking distance Zoro gave an exhausted swing of his right arm, but she countered the blow and slashed at him, knocking the blade from his grip.

She made to stab downwards into his chest, but he parried the attack with his remaining sword and deflected it. Lady Rook brought up her boot and connected it with his jaw, knocking him backward, and somewhere between her kick and the resulting crash of his body hitting the sand, he dropped his last sword. He could never remember being completely disarmed during a battle before.

The woman placed both her feet on his elbows, pinning him into the sand, his nose and mouth just above the waterline.

"Goodbye, Roronoa Zoro." She hissed and brought her left arm up to plunge her sword point down into his eye when there was a click of metal to her right. She glanced sideways and saw Tashigi standing a few short yards away in the shallows up to her knees, soaking wet, glasses perched upon her nose streaked with saltwater, sword in one hand, a pistol in the other, pointed directly at the sword master's head.

"Drop it." Tashigi hissed. "Let him go."

Lady Rook's eyes darted sideways and found her shadow standing despondently a few feet away from the young marine, its form wavering and convulsing uncontrollably.

The deeper into the water her shadow tried to move, the more it began to fade and weaken. The light reflecting off the constantly rippling surface made it nearly impossible to hold its form.

Lady Rook grunted and looked back at the girl. "Your powder's bound to be soaking wet. And even if it isn't and the gun fires, can you even see me well enough to make the shot?"

A flinch of panic crossed Tashigi's brow, but then the younger woman's eyes harden as if transforming into glass and leveled the pistol, keeping it steady in her small hand.

"You want to risk it?" She replied, daring her to strike at Zoro.

"He's just another pirate…" Lady Rook rolled her eyes. "You help free him, how many more marines will he kill?"

"Less than you would," Tashigi responded without missing a beat.

"Okay, butterfly…" She chuckled, the tip of her blade still positioned just a hair above Zoro's chin. "Clearly this one isn't just another bounty for you. Bring my terms to Navy Headquarters, and maybe I'll just blind him instead of cutting his throat."

"What are your terms?" The marine inquired without emotion as water dripped from the end of the pistol's barrel.

"Your Navy is in disarray. The Buster Call launched upon their own at Enies Lobby proved the marines are just as capable of random, savage bloodshed as any pirate enterprise. The playing board has been reset, and pirates from across every ocean have set aside their differences and have collectively fixed their eyes on Navy Headquarters. You're about to be overwhelmed. The Pirate Warlords won't help you, but the Chess Piece Pirates can."

"How so?" Tashigi asked.

"The six remaining Warlords are to be stripped of their titles and their positions assigned to the six officers of the Chess Piece Pirates, including Juzo Rameses, who is to be reinstated. You've seen the horrors we're capable of. The number of bodies we've stacked. How would it feel having that destruction turned against every one of your enemies instead? In exchange for immunity and free-range across the Grand Line, we will ally ourselves with your little seagull fan club and help protect you from what is to come."

"You're insane." Tashigi spat. "The attack on Enies Lobby was brought about by the incompetence of one man, not at the orders of some shadow council. The World Government will never ally themselves with murderous pirates like yourselves."

"They already do." Lady Rook raised an eyebrow. "Be sensible, girl. You saw how easy it was for us to free Rameses. Do you really want us infiltrating Impel Down next and swelling our ranks with those imprisoned there? How would you like Crocodile joining with us, or someone worse? Who else could possibly protect you?"

She jerked her head down at Zoro. "Him? The Straw Hats?"

"Maybe…" Tashigi hissed through clenched teeth. "Your terms have been heard and considered by a representing officer in the Imperial Navy, and they have been denied."

"Time to roll the dice then." Lady Rook shrugged and turned back down to look at Zoro, and her eyebrows arched in shock to discover the tide had been going out and his head was now mostly above the water.

The young man raised his upper body and struck, grabbing the end of her blade in his teeth and snapping the top third of the sword off. Lady Rook cursed and took half a step back in shock, which freed one of Zoro's arms and allowed him to spit the steel tip into his hand and plunge it into the woman's shin.

Lady Rook roared in pain as her legs nearly collapsed underneath her and raised her broken sword to swipe across Zoro's exposed neck, but suddenly Tashigi was there, and her blade sang as she swung it upwards and it bit into the woman's hand.

Blood cascaded across them in a small arc as her sword fell to the sand and immediately the shadow puppet vanished and returned to its quiet place beside her. Lady Rook fell onto one knee and held up her left hand in horror to discover all four of her fingers had been sheared clean off by Tashigi's katana.

Zoro clambered to his feet huffing in fury and picked up his blades as Tashigi stepped forward and placed her sword against the back of the woman's neck.

"Lady Rook… by order of the Imperial Navy… I place you under arrest for piracy, assault, attempted murder, and murder."

The woman was too stunned to respond as she stared at her mangled hand.

"They'll never let me eat again…" She whispered to herself as blood ran down her wrist.

Zoro retrieved his third sword and glanced back up the beach.

"Where's that cook?" He snarled and then paused. He could see his crewmate up the beach, but he was no longer fighting. He wasn't even on his feet anymore. In another moment, he would never stand again.

Zoro sprinted up the beach, ready to cut down the figure who stood over his friend, but the swordsman's wounds were too severe, and he wasn't moving fast enough. He wasn't going to make it.

_"Sanji!" _He cried out, but the blonde chef didn't hear him.

9 Page


	5. Chapter 5

**PART FIVE: Catalyst **

There was blood at the back of his throat. He could have swallowed or spit it out, but he didn't. He let it sit there, coating the back of his tongue and filling the cracks between his teeth with its coppery flavor. In that moment, the thought of choking on it felt appropriate, necessary even, given what he had done by striking his opponent.

The Bishop stood before him, a satisfied smirk playing across her delicate lips as blood trickled from her mouth down the side of her smooth cheek. Her chocolate-colored locks were cut short, his own bangs hiding more of his face than hers did, and her harsh violet eyes taunted him with the knowledge that she had deceived him into breaking his code, therefore securing a dishonorable victory of the duel they had barely begun.

Sanji's eyes were wide and terrified as he stammered, more ashamed of his shortsightedness than her deceit.

"You're a woman…."

"Actually, I'm a satyr." She replied as she raised one of her legs high and bent her knee, showcasing her cloven foot. "Though admittedly one without your most coveted appendage, so sure."

Sanji stared back at her in shock and morbid despair as his brain tried to process the situation he was trapped in.

It wasn't only the fact that his opponent was female, but that she appeared to have the same skillset he did, albeit with a much more powerful arsenal in which to use it. Bishop's legs were just as muscular as his own, but with her naturally hardened, sharpened, wrecking ball-like feet, she could deliver far greater damage with every blow.

A coarse layer of dark brown hair ran up her leg to about the mid-thigh, where her leg transformed back into smooth feminine skin. The only clothing she wore were dark blue bikini-type bottoms and an ashen-colored leather top, which was clearly chosen to maximize her range of movement. There was a large gold and black crescent moon tattooed across her stomach, encompassing her navel.

In any other circumstances Sanji's jaw would have been on the floor with wide-eyed lustful affection and joy. Despite her animalistic legs, she was quite beautiful to behold, even if there was a menacing acidity to the way her starry eyes locked on to their target. Now though, all he could do was stare in mortification as he realized how, even unknowingly, he had betrayed everything he stood for by kicking her, enemy or not.

He buried his blazing foot deep into the sand, extinguishing the flames.

"You really aren't going to do it…" She raised an eyebrow. "So Kalifa was being honest when she said you withdrew. What kind of man refuses to fight a woman as an equal?"

"One who is inferior to them." Sanji retorted simply.

"Your chivalry will be what kills you." She spat blood onto the sand.

"So be it." He gritted his teeth.

Bishop shot forward and delivered three swift kicks, aiming for his torso. Sanji raised his right leg in response and countered her blows by blocking them with his shin. Each strike felt like he had deflected a battle axe.

She continued to launch attacks at him with her legs and feet at a furious speed, like a boxer would pummel at a training bag. It was all he could do to keep up with her, but he knew he was losing too much ground. Permanently playing defense would only delay the inevitable. Had he encountered her earlier he may have hoped to tire her out and find a way to bind her legs together, but he was already exhausted and bleeding from his brief battle with Lady Rook and her shadow.

He needed to think fast. If she let her guard down for just a moment, perhaps he could trip her up and pin her to the sand by putting a knee into her back.

_And then what? _

He had no idea. A small voice in his head had always whispered to him to have a plan in case it came to this, but he had always ignored it, half unconcerned and half unwilling to believe it ever would.

Bishop flipped herself forward and landed nimbly on her hands, swinging both her legs around and connecting with his chest like a battering ram. Sanji fell backward and hit the sand before immediately launching himself back onto his feet just as she stomped her hoof down into the spot his neck had just occupied.

Not willing to let him regain his balance, Bishop spun again and caught him behind the leg, tripping him up and causing him to stagger back. She struck hard and fast with two debilitating kicks to his ribs and Sanji hit the ground again, landing on his left side.

Bishop kicked him in the gut and flipped him onto his back, and Sanji's shoulder screamed in pain as sand invaded the open wound Lady Rook had graced him with.

He rolled across the beach as she again tried to plant her iron foot into his brow. Sanji spat his cigarette upwards and struck her right above her left eye, causing her to flinch and look away for just long enough for him to flip over with the use of his good arm and land on his feet again.

Bishop wiped at her eye and slid her hoof against a rock jutting from the sand, and it made a shrieking sound like a blade against a wet stone.

"Three pirates once came for me, each one twice the size of you." She pointed her chin at him as they both moved in a slow circle, neither of them blinking as they faced each other, refusing to show the other their back.

"They weren't after bounties or gold. Their appetites were more… carnal."

Sanji removed his suit jacket cautiously, keeping his eyes focused on hers.

"I let them think I was afraid, powerless, willing to comply." She continued. "And when the moment was right, I crippled them. I took it slow, broke one bone at a time, until they were sacks of shattered fragments. I saved their necks for last."

She raised her leg into the air again, bent at the knee.

"I don't need a man's sympathy or protection, Blackfoot Sanji."

"It's not about anyone needing it. It's about respect. About differentiating myself from those three that came after you." Sanji retorted.

Bishop glared. "You wear your morality like a badge of honor, but all it does is showcase your weakness. It presents me with a target to aim for."

For the first time since Bishop's secret had been revealed, Sanji allowed himself a faint smirk and spread his arms.

"And yet, I'm still standing."

Bishop's eyes narrowed and she launched another kick directly at his head. Anticipating the attack, the cook spun nimbly and flung out his jacket like a net and ensnared her leg just below the knee. For half a second the Chess Piece pirate was caught completely off guard and pivoted awkwardly on her other leg to free herself, but that brief instant was all Sanji had needed to tug the jacket's arms into a tight knot and use her own momentum to throw her off balance.

She staggered sideways using her arm to break her fall. Propelling herself back upwards she spun horizontally through the air, attempting to wrench the coat out of his arms, but only succeeded in entangling both of her legs within the pinstriped trap instead.

Sanji grabbed both her legs at the ankles between his forearms and threw himself forward, body-slamming them both into the sand. Despite being matched in skill, the young man still had several pounds on her and took advantage of her momentary confusion to throw himself forward, pressing his elbow against her throat and setting his knee firmly into her gut.

Bishop snarled, struggling to take in a fresh breath. She grabbed at his arm, attempting to force him off, but Sanji leaned more weight into her, putting pressure directly onto her windpipe.

"Submit!" he cried out with more distress in his voice than ferocity. "I don't want to do it, but I'll hold you down until you pass out."

She stared back up at him with cold, calculating eyes that showed no indication of panic, and Sanji felt his heart sink. They both knew he was bluffing, and she wanted him to know his attempt at civility had been useless before she struck back.

"I'd rather my lungs burn." She hissed.

Her fingers found his wounded shoulder and she buried her nails into his flesh. Sanji screamed through gritted teeth and he released his hold on her, and as he straightened up, she headbutted him directly between his eyes and knocked him back. Tearing the offending jacket away from her legs Bishop rose to her feet, hunched forward like a coiled spring for a single heartbeat and then speared Sanji with a devastating blow with her cloven foot directly to his chest, catapulting him off the beach and into the underbrush.

Not allowing him even a second to recover his breath, she charged after him and smashed her other hoof into his ear. Sanji was hurled sideways and collided with one of the few withered palm trees on the island that had managed to grow into adolescence.

Sanji's ears rang and he vomited blood and bile onto the dirt as he struggled to find his feet. Before his vision had even cleared, he felt the cold, metallic pressure of Bishop's hoof against his forehead as she held him in place against the tree.

Somewhere down the beach, there was a flash of bright light as flares erupted across the sky, but Sanji barely noticed them. The white-hot fire inside his skull made it impossible to comprehend what was happening beyond his immediate surroundings as Bishop leaned in and pressed her iron foot harder against his temple.

"I want you to know you didn't just fail yourself." Bishop gave a manic, slightly deranged chuckle. "You failed your friends. After I kill you, I'm going to murder all your allies on this beach. The swordsman, the four-eyed navy officer, and that green-haired pirate captain. Then, I'm going to find the rest of your crew."

Sanji snarled in rage as he raised his hands and grabbed her ankle in a vain attempt to break her hold on him. She increased the pressure in response to the point that he felt sure his cranium would split.

"Most of them I'll kill quickly, but not Nico Robin and that pretty little navigator I saw at Enies Lobby. I'm going to make sure they die in agony, bones splintered, skulls fractured, and every time they scream, I'll remind them it was you, Blackfoot Sanji, and your insufferable morals, that sealed their fate."

Sanji felt a wrath build deep inside him that he had never experienced before.

"Just two more useless women who put their trust in the wrong man."

Somewhere, deep inside him, Sanji's resolve broke. He grabbed her stationary leg between his feet and twisted in a sharp, furious motion. There came a snapping sound from somewhere deep inside her joints and Bishop screamed in shock and pain as she fell over sideways and away from him.

* * *

Rameses spun in a furious circle, hurling punches and shooting quills in every direction, desperate the connect with his target.

Smoker encircled the enraged brute in a tight funnel of gray mist and locked his Jitte under the scarecrow's chin, clinging to it from behind, trying to choke enough life out of him to bring him down.

Marion had made quick work of the surrounding Chess Piece pirates, teleporting herself across the beach using rapid-fire attacks to cut down or disable those who were still close enough to cause trouble. Upon spotting her greasy-haired crewmate Ink grappling with the chain-wielding mountain that was Pawn, holding him off as best he could by hurling globs of ooze into his eyes, she teleported herself across the beach to land on a small boulder. Kneeling forward to touch the warm stone with her palm, she vanished, and reappeared atop the bulky missile directly over her enemy's head.

The rock split into two pieces and it landed on the pirate's skull, who, thanks to being half-blinded by Ink's attacks, never saw it coming.

Marion landed gracefully upon the sand as Pawn fell backward and crashed like a towering oak unconscious into the underbrush.

"We need to help Smoker!" She pointed with her sword past her comrade where the Navy Officer was still struggling to bring Rameses to his knees. The thuggish beast spun wildly and flung quills the size of billiard cues across the beach. Fortunately for Smoker, the attack passed through his gray, formless body without doing any damage. Marion grabbed Ink's arm and teleported them both across the beach away from the assault. A few unfortunate Chess Piece pirates lying wounded upon the sand were impaled by the indiscriminate projectiles.

Marion swiftly transported herself directly next to their towering enemy and sliced at his legs with her sword. Ink swept his arm horizontally before him and a splash of black, oily liquid painted the ground at their feet.

Caught off guard, Rameses slipped and fell onto one knee, one of the sea stone cuffs still clamped upon his wrist. Marion grabbed at the second cuff swinging free, but the pirate's upper body was too broad for her to grab his opposite arm, and with the sea stone clasped in her hand her teleporting powers were disabled. She glanced up at Smoker and the two made eye contact over the bulbous, spiked shoulder.

"Drop it!" She called to him.

Smoker complied and released his hold on the Jitte. Marion caught it as it fell, spun it around and stabbed Rameses under the chin with its blunted point.

Ink fired three fast globs of black ooze from the sacs on his hands and caught Rameses directly in the eyes. Smoker vanished into a cloud of mist and reappeared up under the creature's bulk and added his own force behind the Jitte. The weapon's tip punctured beneath the scarecrow's jaw and forced itself up into the roof of his mouth.

Rameses roared and slammed his fists down at them, but Smoker and Marion were both able to disappear and avoid the blows. Marion landed on the back of the creature's broad shoulders amongst the barbs and stabbed downwards with her blade, but the sword-point barely indented itself into his mutated flesh.

Smoker put the brute in a headlock while Ink ran forward and grabbed at the unshackled arm.

A sudden, brilliant blaze of light caught Marion's eye as flares exploded somewhere up the beach. From her vantage point on top of Rameses' hunched form she noticed the Bishop pressing her cloven foot directly into Sanji's head, pinning him against a tree.

"No!" She cried out and teleported herself onto the sand.

"Grab his other arm!" Smoker roared in her direction. "We've almost got him cuffed!"

Rameses bellowed in rage as he tried to regain his feet, a thick green blood spurting from his mouth and running down his throat from the wound in his jaw. Smoker was barely holding him down while Ink desperately tried to force the pirate's arm to bend and bring his free wrist closer to his bound wrist.

Marion glanced back at them, knowing she could potentially help them restrain this threat once and for all, but not at the cost of Sanji's life. If she delayed now, she'd never get there in time.

"I'm sorry." She called back to Smoker as she vanished.

* * *

Bishop stumbled sideways, cursing and snarling as she favored her wounded leg.

"_You impotent piece of leviathan shit! You broke my ankle!" _

Sanji attempted to raise himself up from the ground but his head was spinning, and his vision was still blurred from the pain. Bishop grabbed his necktie and yanked him forward, ready to break his neck, but before she could lay her hands on his throat Marion appeared beside them and sliced her blade down across the satyr's face.

Marion grabbed Bishop by the hair as the Chess pirate wailed in pain, her hands flying up to the fresh gash on her face, and the next moment both had disappeared.

* * *

Juzo Rameses lifted himself back to his feet, dragging Smoker and Ink up off the ground with him. Smoker evaporated and swirled downwards around the pirate's knees, reappearing to strike at him behind the leg, trying desperately to bring him back down.

The towering brute grabbed Ink with his free hand and hurled him across the sand. Reaching down he attempted to catch hold of Smoker, but the marine skewered the beast's palm with his Jitte.

With an enraged roar, Rameses wrenched the staff free from Smoker's grip and snapped it in half with one fierce blow from his opposite arm. Pulling the sea stone tip free from the wound in his hand he drove it into Smoker's chest, and immediately the man's hazy gray form rematerialized into flesh and bone.

Smoker grunted and spat his twin cigars into Rameses' grotesque face as he tasted blood on his tongue.

"Tell your superiors I'm coming for what's mine." The spiked monster snarled and slammed the marine directly into the sand at his feet.

He turned his bulk towards Sanji, who had fallen forwards onto his hands and knees and was coughing into the dirt, calling out for Marion.

Rameses scanned the beach. The Chess Piece Pirates had already won. He could have made for the ship and set off towards their next target, but he wanted to make a final example of this stranger, this mercenary who had allied himself with the Black Clovers and the Marines. He wanted the Grand Line to know that if anyone chose to stand against him with his enemies, they'd be shown even less mercy than he was.

He wrenched two quills from his back and stomped towards the young man, ready to impale him against the sand and watch his life bleed away and vanish into the shallows.

The sun glinting off the swords of another young man caught his eye as Rameses noticed him charging from across the bay, but he'd never make it in time. He'd make short work of him next.

The blonde man forced himself up onto his knees and stared back into the scarecrow's remorseless red eyes.

"You… are so… screwed." The cook muttered with a smirk.

Rameses paused.

"What?"

There came the blast of cannon fire from across the water and a piercing cry echoed around the beach.

_"Gomu Gomu no… Gatling!" _

An enraged figure collided with Rameses and with a wild blur of fists the two of them were catapulted into the undergrowth.

A straw hat lazily drifted through the warm breeze to land upon the sand in front of Sanji, who's smirk turned into a relieved grin.

Luffy had joined the fight.

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	6. Chapter 6

**PART SIX: Valhalla**

Usopp coughed as he waved the smoke out of his face. He straightened up from the cannon and held his hand over his eyes as he peered across the water towards the beach.

"Did he make it?" Nami asked cautiously as she joined him at the ship's railing.

"Direct hit!" Usopp whooped as Luffy collided with the towering figure of Juzo Rameses.

"Is Sanji there?"

"Yes! And Zoro too!" Usopp pointed out their crewmates upon the sand.

"Are they all right?"

"I can't tell…" His exuberance dwindled into hesitant concern.

Robin adjusted her cowboy hat, casting a cold shadow across her normally warm, enchanting eyes.

"You two stay on the ship." She instructed her friends as Chopper hopped up onto the railing beside her.

"What? Where are you guys going?" Nami spun in sudden panic to look at the two Devil Fruit Eaters.

Robin's voice went as cold as her eyes. "To pick a fight."

* * *

Sanji awkwardly struggled to his feet, clutching at the tree his head had very nearly been crushed against.

_"Marion!"_ He cried out. _"Get back here!"_

The green-haired woman had not reappeared since she had vanished several moments ago with Bishop in tow, and he was suddenly terrified that despite the busted ankle that the satyr may have managed to overpower her somewhere else on the island.

There came a furious guttural roar and Luffy was catapulted back out of the undergrowth and ricocheted across the sand like a skipping stone. He landed in a disheveled inverted heap just short of the waterline and glared at Sanji from between his own legs.

_"SANJI! YOU JERK! WHY DID YOU LEAVE?" _

Before the cook could even consider how best to answer that question Rameses leapt back onto the sand like an enraged wildebeest and tore the sea stone cuff free from his wrist with his teeth like it was made of gauze. His enormous parson's hat was gone, and greenish blood stained his neck and chest from the open wound under his jaw.

He tore off his shredded jacket and smashed his right fist into his chest and roared the furious challenge of a creature that was ready to die if it meant dragging its quarry to hell with him. Sanji felt the roar reverberate between his bones as if it had originated from inside his own chest, and the deranged pirate stared him down with his soulless crimson eyes.

Then… Zoro was there.

_"Thousand Sword Strike!" _

Zoro hurled himself directly into the brute's massive chest, his katanas slicing from every angle. Several dozen of the quill tips protruding from the grotesque hunchback were severed, blunting most of his potential missiles. Blood spurted from numerous gashes across his chest, arms and legs, but his towering bulk remained upright.

The grim-faced swordsman landed upon the sand as Luffy righted himself. Sanji limped forward to stand on Luffy's left, with Zoro on their captain's right.

Luffy cracked his knuckles as Sanji lit up a fresh smoke between his bruised fingers.

"This is the Rameses guy?" Luffy asked with furious irritation.

"Yep…" Sanji exhaled a tobacco cloud.

A corroborating grunt escaped from behind the sword grip that was clenched between Zoro's teeth.

Rameses snarled as he charged forward at the trio.

"Let's kick his ass…." Luffy glowered.

* * *

Tashigi made eye contact with Nami from the beach as the Straw Hat's ship dropped its anchor in the bay. The navigator waved at her and she returned the gesture in exhausted appreciation, and then her relief turned into joyous exhilaration as she noticed two additional ships entering the bay in the Straw Hat's wake. One was the third Black Clover ship _Kraken's Fang_, and the other was Smoker's second Navy battleship.

The reinforcements had arrived.

* * *

_"Gomu Gomu no… Rifle!" _

As Rameses fired a torrent of sharp and blunted quills alike in their direction, Zoro leapt through the air spinning like an enraged buzz saw and carved an opening for Luffy and Sanji to escape through. Luffy's fist made direct contact with the spot between Juzo's eyes and Sanji landed a kick directly into the creature's gut.

Even more vile green blood exploded from between the brute's teeth as Sanji's blow knocked the wind out of him. Luffy winced as he retracted his extendable arm and examined his bloodied knuckles.

"It's like punching a granite pincushion." He hissed and he shook his hand fiercely as though he had burned it.

The three young men attacked Rameses from different directions, intentionally keeping from grouping together so the pirate couldn't fire another round of deadly spikes at them.

Zoro continued to strike from behind, slashing at his back and cutting away as many quills as he could before they could be fired. Sanji repeatedly aimed precision kicks at Rameses' lower body, specifically legs and lower gut, trying to knock him off balance, while Luffy focused on the face and head, delivering blow after devastating blow.

Sanji had no idea how the giant was enduring such a beating, bleeding from a thousand different wounds while simultaneously being able to regenerate and fire a seemingly endless supply of barbed quills.

Luffy fluidly dodged two spiked projectiles by contorting his elastic body at an impossible angle and raised his leg high into the air.

_"Gomu Gomu no… Battle Axe!" _

Luffy's heel fell downward and connected with Rameses' temple, finally knocking him to his knees.

Zoro sprang through the air and brought down his katanas vertically as if to slice the brute down the middle, but the mutant scarecrow raised his meaty forearm and blocked the attack, blades embedding themselves in his thick flesh but failing to cut clean through. Zoro's eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened, amazed his attack had failed to do more damage, but then a boulder-sized fist collided with him and sent him flying across the beach.

Sanji touched his cigarette to the heel of his shoe and it erupted into flame. He swung his leg wide like a pendulum and planted it between two ribs on the left side of his chest, and Sanji heard an ear-piercing crack as something snapped, but Rameses remained upright upon his knees.

_"Gomu Gomu no… Bazooka!" _

Luffy's arms shot out behind him as far as he could stretch them before they recoiled with his fists aimed directly at Rameses' throat. Instead, the brute caught Luffy's blows directly between his jaws and bit down hard into the rubbery flesh.

_"OW! OW! OW!" _Luffy wailed as Rameses reached out and grabbed the boy in his clawed hand and squeezed.

"Miserable wretch!" Rameses snarled as he spat out Luffy's hands with a fresh spew of green blood and hurled him directly into the sea.

"No!" Sanji gasped as Luffy hit the water.

He was about to sprint into the shallows and save him before he noticed Zoro had already beaten him to it. Despite bleeding from a fresh gash across his chin, the swordsman dove into the sea without hesitation to rescue their captain.

Sanji turned back to Rameses in fury.

"That's the last time you'll hurt one of my friends."

Rameses was swaying on his feet slightly, eyes unfocused as he heaved in great gasps of oxygen. He hacked up blood and mucus during a horrific coughing fit, which seemed to snap him out of his temporary trance, and he hissed in impatient rage as he set his sights on Sanji yet again.

The young man raised his blazing foot up at a ninety-degree angle and Sanji threatened him through clenched teeth.

"Hit me again. I promise one of us won't get back up."

_"Dom Fleur!" _

Graceful feminine hands and arms began to sprout all along the sand by Rameses' boots and up along the massive pirate's legs and arms, and suddenly he was completely entwined in dozens of them, digging their nails into his wounds, cutting off his circulation and firmly rooting him to the spot.

_"Now, Chopper!" _Robin cried out.

The Straw Hat's trusty reindeer, now enlarged into his bulky human form charged towards the scarecrow on two legs like a berserk sea train without its brakes. Chopper slammed himself into Rameses as Robin released him and the pirate was hurled backward, landing flat on his back in the sand, cracking several protruding quills in half as he fell.

Even in his largest form Chopper was still considerably smaller than Rameses, but at least he had the muscle mass required to finally knock the deranged psycho off his feet and into the dust.

Robin's arms sprouted from the sand again and held Rameses in place upon the ground, holding him tightly around the neck, shoulders, elbows and knees. Chopper climbed up onto the broad chest and began pummeling the man's scarred face with a fury of punches that could have rivaled one of Luffy's storm of fists.

Sanji buried his foot in the sand and extinguished the fire for the second time. He gasped for breath as he sank to his knees. It was over. Rameses was down. They had him. It wasn't how he had wanted it to happen, putting his crew in the line of fire, but he should have expected as much to know they wouldn't be far behind him, determine not to let him face this threat alone.

He looked up the beach and saw Smoker and the Black Clover Pirate Ink limping up the beach in their direction, Smoker leaning on his broken Jitte. Over to his right, Zoro had emerged from the water with Luffy hanging over his shoulder, hacking up enough salt water to drown a whale.

Glancing behind him he saw Tashigi speaking with the marines that had just arrived, handing a shackled Lady Rook over to them, one of her hands bandaged and bloody. Just behind the marine's ship he could make out two more, and one was his own, the distant forms of Nami and Usopp waving to him from the foredeck.

The marine and Black Clover pirate casualties had been immense. Their bodies still dotted the beach in both directions, and for that Sanji was distraught, feeling a pang of guilt that there hadn't been more he could have done to prevent the slaughter, but at least those brave men and women had chosen to join this fight, whereas his crew had been dragged into it.

At least none of his friends had been hurt.

A deafening roar split the relative tranquil stillness of the moment as he suddenly heard Robin gasp in pain.

His head shot up to look in her direction and saw to his horror the young woman was losing her grip on Rameses, and tears were welling in her eyes as she fought to concentrate and hold the beast down.

Rameses roared again and tore Robin's multitude of secondary arms and hands up from the sand, breaking numerous wrists and fingers in the process. He smashed his fist into Chopper's ear and the reindeer went sprawling into the wet sand.

Robin cried out in distress as she fell to her knees and Rameses wrenched himself back up, tearing himself free of the woman's grip, and Sanji saw blood spurt from the defeated broken appendages. He had never asked Robin if her duplicate arms ever felt any pain when she used her devil fruit ability, but judging by the tears streaming down her face, it was evident they most definitely did.

Robin collapsed forward as Chopper climbed to his feet and delivered two rapid punches into the monster's gut, but Rameses grabbed their doctor friend by the throat and lifted him skyward.

"_Second Gear!"_ Luffy screamed from across the beach as he crouched down and slammed his fist into the ground, charging up his body for the elevated energy attack.

Rameses made eye contact with Luffy and bellowed a challenge from between his broken teeth. He slammed Chopper down at his feet and leaned forward, launching a barrage of spiked quills in every direction.

Smoker hurled himself down upon both Ink and Robin, shielding them with his much wider girth.

Zoro spun his katanas rapidly, sheltering himself and Luffy and blocking the assault. Chopper, at Rameses' feet at ground zero, was too close to the source to be impaled.

Sanji however, was wide open and vulnerable.

He closed his eyes and prepared to be skewered by an uncertain number of missiles, which if he was lucky, would hit him in a spot that would bring death quickly.

But any quills designated for him at that moment never found their target.

Marion reappeared in front of him.

* * *

Half a second after Rameses' attack ended, Zoro stepped aside and Luffy launched himself directly at their enemy and buried his fists so deeply into the brute's chest it collapsed both his lungs and dislocated his arms.

Rameses let out a rattling, gasping cry like he was drowning on dry land and collapsed onto his side, completely unconscious, purple tongue hanging out like he was a dehydrated dog.

Luffy hit the sand, shaking his fists in pain as he glanced around.

"Is everyone all right?" He asked.

In response, Sanji let out a bone-chilling, mortified wail.

* * *

Marion had appeared directly in front of Sanji, intending to shield them both with a large fragment of shattered wood, likely a section of deck from one of the two destroyed ships, but the shield was now in two pieces being clasped separately in her delicate hands as though it were still intact.

Sanji hadn't heard the crack of the board breaking, but he heard the moment of dull, mocking silence before Marion coughed and blood splattered across the inside of her shield in front of her face.

She dropped both sections of wood and fell backward into Sanji's arms, blood staining her chin and eyes opened wide in shock.

Three quills had found her in total. One had buried itself in her upper right thigh at an awkward angle, likely causing a serious gash but wouldn't be life-threatening. The second one was worse. It had pierced her left shoulder and had very likely broken her collarbone, the tip protruding defiantly out her back, leaking slow droplets of blood.

The third spike had been the deciding one. It had broken through her ineffective shield and embedded itself in her torso, just below her left breast, and was deep enough for Sanji to know it wouldn't be freed without draining her life away with it.

Sanji fell backward onto the sand and held Marion upright as best he could in his arms.

"_CHOPPER!"_ Sanji wailed for their doctor.

The reindeer shrunk himself down to his standard size and sprinted over to where the woman required his attention.

"_No! Captain!"_ Ink cried out as he staggered to his feet and followed in the reindeer's tracks.

A deafening silence hung over the group as everyone stared in Marion's direction. Zoro took his sword from his mouth and buried it tip down in the sand and stared downwards solemnly, knowing without having to look the magnitude of what had happened. Luffy's face was blank, but his eyes were wide and terrified as if his adolescent brain couldn't comprehend that one of their number was not going to get back up.

Robin and Smoker regained their feet and Robin removed her hat and placed it delicately over her chest as she watched Sanji break down into uncontrollable sobs.

From further up the beach Tashigi had been making her way towards them with Nami and Usopp following close behind, but the young officer suddenly stopped in her tracks and her hands flew up to her mouth as she realized what had happened. Nami took a few additional steps as well before she heard Sanji crying. She had no idea who the woman was that he was cradling in his arms or what exactly had happened to her, but she knew it was bad, and the sound of her friend in pain tore open her own heart. Suddenly, without fully knowing why, she was in tears as well.

* * *

"_Chopper, do something!"_ Sanji pleaded as he pressed his hand over her chest, trying in vain to stop the bleeding.

For the first several seconds the tiny doctor's face was set in grim determination as he opened his bag and attempted to treat the wound, but it only took a few additional moments for his face to fall and he made eye contact with Sanji, his crestfallen expression showcased with more clarity than words ever could the reality of the situation.

"_No! Marion! Talk to me! Don't go!" _ Sanji wailed as tears ran down his cheeks. He took her hand in his and squeezed it, but he was no longer sure the woman could feel him there anymore.

"I was wrong Marion! I forgive you! Please! _I was wrong!_"

For a split second her eyes seemed to flicker with gratitude as she gazed skyward, perhaps recognizing his voice, and the faintest of smirks played at the side of her mouth as if in response.

And then she was gone.

"_Marion! Please! I love you!" _Sanji choked on his words and buried his face into the young woman's shoulder, his tears soaking into her hair.

"I'm so sorry…" Chopper whispered as he took a respectful step back to stand next to Ink, who's hands were clasped at the sides of his head as he looked down at his fallen captain in disbelief.

Sanji's sobs continued as the rest of the group formed a half-circle around him. Nami fell to her knees and wept harder than she had in a long time, desperately wanting to reach out to comfort him but knowing she couldn't. Whatever was there between Sanji and this Marion woman had clearly been there long before she had known him, and she didn't have the heart to attempt to put herself between them, even with the purest of intentions.

Robin walked over to where Nami knelt in the sand and sat down beside her to wrap her arms around her. Tashigi removed her glasses before walking over to Zoro to rest her own tear-stained face on his shoulder, and to her immense surprise and relief, he let her, putting his own arm around her in response.

Luffy picked up his hat from the sand and brushed it off before setting it back down low over his face to hide his own tears.

"I'm sorry Sanji…" The young man whispered with the faintest of trembles in his voice.

The sea breeze enveloped the group as they all stood in solidarity for their fallen ally, but none of them felt its warmth. Sanji sobbed for another several minutes, but no one spoke a word until his tears had subsided.


	7. Chapter 7

**PART SEVEN: Callisto **

During the brief gasp of time that occurred after sunset had faded into twilight and just before dusk had settled in, Zoro watched passively from the deck of the Navy's hospital ship as the marines finished setting up medical tents along the beach to care for the wounded. Chopper hadn't let him walk six feet before he had nearly tackled him and ordered him to remain still as he tended to the numerous gruesome injuries he had acquired and then rest until he got back. Not long after he had diligently returned to redress the bandages.

"It looks like you went to battle with a shark while halfway down its throat." The tiny reindeer fussed as he swabbed and redressed the young man's cuts.

"None on the back…" Chopper commented as he finished binding the gash Lady Rook had bestowed upon him. "…just like last time."

Zoro nodded silently. Wounds on the back were, after all, a swordsman shame.

"How are the others?" He asked as Chopper shut his bag.

"I helped the Marine Doctor remove that fragment of metal from Smoker's chest. He'll be all right. Luffy's knuckles are a bloody pulp, but that's nothing new. Tashigi suffered a few nasty slices of her own but compared to how you turned out she's as fresh as a daisy. Speaking of which, I can't believe I didn't recognize her scent back on the ship. I knew it was someone we had met before."

"How many dead?" Zoro asked in a tone that was neither overly concerned or very curious.

Chopper sighed. Zoro knew the tiny doctor had spent time walking up and down the beach with the marines, checking the bodies, searching in vain for any possible survivors.

"I didn't get a count, but it's a lot. Too many. More than I've seen in any one place, including Alabasta."

Zoro nodded. He had been counting as he limped to the ship but decided not to share the total with anyone. Even though they had triumphed, too many had died for it to be considered a victory. One day he would record the number for history, but for now, it was a secret pain he wanted to be the only one to have to shoulder.

After the Marines had seen to their wounded, they began collecting the bodies of the dead and loading them onto the ship. Likewise had the Black Clover Pirates tended to their own as well.

Only six Chess Piece pirates had been captured alive, including Rameses and Lady Rook. All the other bodies of their enemies had been stacked on the far end of the beach and burned upon the rocks.

"You found us much quicker than we expected you to," Zoro muttered as he lay back down on the marine cot to stare at the purple-blue sky.

Chopper chuckled. "We should have known you two wouldn't have left us completely in the dark. Very clever of Sanji to put that note about Marion with the island's coordinates at the very bottom of the last meal he had packaged. Fortunately, Luffy inhaled most of the food during the first couple of hours."

"It was the only way we could think to safely do it," Zoro admitted. "We knew it wouldn't keep for three days, but we needed a decent head start."

The miniature reindeer wiped his brow with a tiny hoof.

"By the time we reached the island it had already revolved in a half-circle. We spotted the _Kraken's Fang_ and the Navy ship trading shots with the Chess Piece Pirate's ship and decided to help them. That cost us a little time, but once the pirates saw it was three on one, they took off, completely abandoning the rest of their crew on the island."

Chopper sat down next to Zoro and gazed at the beach, watching as the Marines and Black Clover Pirates mingled on the sand, exchanging water and supplies. There was no hostility anywhere.

"Isn't it weird?" The reindeer asked. "Here we are, Straw Hats and Black Clovers, two infamous Pirate gangs, and we're breaking bread with the Navy like we're all friends."

"It won't last much longer," Zoro predicted as he rubbed at his eyes. "Now that the mutual enemy has been eliminated, any remaining goodwill will run out twice as fast."

"Probably…" Chopper admitted. "But for now, can't we just enjoy it?"

"Sure," Zoro smirked as he shut his eyes, ready for a well-deserved nap.

Tashigi chose that moment to walk across the deck and tap his shoulder. He cracked an irritated eye at her.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to do this, but Vikander's ship just arrived. Smoker wants members from both Pirate crews to meet down in the galley for a conference."

"Who's Vikander?" Zoro asked without much interest.

"He's a Navy Magistrate. He's the closest thing Rameses is going to get to a trial before he's shipped to Impel Down."

Zoro sat up. "They're actually taking him to Impel Down? What about all the secrecy?"

Tashigi made a grim face. "Realistically, it's the only safe place to hold him. The warden has been notified, but his presence there will be strictly on a need-to-know basis amongst the admirals."

Zoro paused another moment before looking up into Tashigi's noble, yet modest eyes.

"Did Smoker tell him my crew was here?"

"I promise it isn't a trap Zoro." She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'd rather the Straw Hats keep a low profile, but you actually fought Rameses. Vikander may want to hear your testimony. Nami is making sure Luffy will be there but I know we can't really rely on him for actual diplomacy."

"And Sanji?" Zoro asked carefully.

Tashigi slowly shook her head. "He still won't see anyone."

"Ok…" Zoro nodded reluctantly. "But my swords stay with me."

"Absolutely." Tashigi nodded without hesitation. "Thank you."

"Chopper." Zoro turned to his friend as he stood. "Could you please try to look in on Sanji again?"

Chopper nodded his head dutifully, but his expression made clear that another attempt wouldn't make any difference.

Zoro knew Chopper well enough to understand that if there wasn't any optimism to be found in his normally cheerful eyes, there wasn't any reason to get his hopes up.

* * *

The galley of the Navy ship was warm and brightly lit and felt almost too inviting as Zoro took a seat at one of the tables in between Tashigi and Robin. Luffy sat on Robin's other side with his arms crossed and his back hunched, not trying at all to disguise the fact that he was displeased about being there. Had their captain had his way, they would have been back on their boat and gone five minutes after Rameses had fallen unconscious into the sand, but Chopper had refused to leave before helping to tend to the wounded.

Well, that was the excuse that was spoken out loud. He knew as well as the rest of them did why they couldn't leave yet. Sanji wasn't prepared to, and there was no sign he would be ready anytime soon.

Nami sat to Luffy's left, looking more nervous than afraid. Robin's expression was calm and collected as ever, and she showed no sign that the meeting they were attending couldn't have been something they did regularly every week.

Sitting at the Officer's table Captain Iro faced the Straw Hats. He was the commander of the ship they currently resided in. He was an older man with silver hair, tired eyes, and a pinched face. According to Tashigi, he had been one of the men who had originally discovered Rameses' betrayal all those years ago at the Port of Damocles.

At the table next to the Straw Hats sat Ink, greasy black hair tousled and sticking to the sides of his gaunt face. He was the highest-ranking officer left from Marion's crew aboard the destroyed _Cutthroat Bounty_. Beside him sat the Captain of the only remaining Black Clover ship _Kraken's Fang_, a young woman with red and white parted hair, no doubt meant to correspond with the foxtails that lined the collar of her jacket. Zoro had yet to speak to her but had heard from Tashigi her name was Etain. She looked every bit as cunning and dangerous as Marion had been, but perhaps a little more preoccupied with her appearance.

Smoker walked in and sat next to Iro, his arm in a sling and his two cigars filling the room with a thick tobacco cloud that ominously floated above their heads.

A chair had been reserved at their table for Sanji, but no one really expected him to attend and occupy it.

Two marines stood at attention by the door, and as far as Zoro could tell, they were all that qualified as security.

"Aren't you at the wrong table?" He glanced at Tashigi.

She shook her head. "Recruiting you and Sanji was my call. My sitting here is taking responsibility for that decision."

"They don't think I'll put a blade to your throat if something goes sideways?" Zoro asked with mild curiosity.

Tashigi turned to look him in the eye.

"Would you?"

Zoro shrugged. "It wouldn't be my first choice."

"I'll risk it." She let the matter drop as a tall man with spidery whiskers and a Navy robe walked into the room to sit beside Smoker and Iro. Zoro barely had time to register his presence before he noticed another figure following behind him, and he snarled and leapt to his feet, hand on his katana's handle.

"_You!"_ He spat as the Marine officer entered behind the magistrate. Robin and Nami's expressions changed instantly from curious to cautious and Luffy made a growling sound like an infuriated terrier that had caught a whiff of an old enemy.

The marine was fairly ordinary in size and build, but what made him instantly recognizable was in addition to the standard Marine uniform he wore a shawl which covered the bottom half of his face. And then there were his eyes. Zoro recognized them immediately. The squinting, gray, calculating eyes that reminded him of a snake in the grass.

Tashigi grabbed at his arm and attempted to pull him back down.

"No Zoro! Don't! It's all right! I promise."

"He was at Enies Lobby." Zoro thrust his chin at the man like he wanted to stab him with it. "He was one of the marines with Spandam and Lucci who tried to stop us from saving Robin. He destroyed one of my swords."

The figure gave Zoro a quick bow.

"We meet again Roronoa Zoro. I apologize I didn't have time to introduce myself during our brief exchange. I am Shu. I would apologize for the loss of your blade, but I see you have already acquired a new one."

Zoro felt his blood boil. Although he had never spoken his discomfort aloud, this man had been the only opponent he had ever battled aside from Dracule Mihawk whom he had been unable to put down. With Mihawk the defeat had been justified, he had simply been no match for the man, but this man had used his Devil Fruit power to catch Zoro off guard, obliterating his katana with his bare hand and reducing it to dust. He hadn't had time to properly finish the fight as they had been in a hurry to escape, and Usopp had actually been the one to knock the man down, but that relatively minor failure of not having done so himself hadn't left the back of his mind.

"You owe me blood." Zoro grit his teeth.

"Last I checked, you were unable to cut me," Shu responded simply.

"Oh, I'll find a way."

"_Zoro!"_ Tashigi stood and grabbed at his wrists. "Please! Now isn't the time."

"Sit down Shu." Smoker commanded bluntly. "Everyone, this is Yota Vikander, and he'll be heading the proceedings regarding Rameses's hearing."

Vikander didn't acknowledge the introduction as he spread his files upon the table before him. Shu obediently took a seat on Smoker's other side.

Zoro slowly let himself sink back into his own chair and Tashigi held his wrists for a few more careful seconds before releasing him. Her eyes pleaded more than commanded that he restrain himself from any further outbursts. Zoro made himself calm down and appear composed, for her sake if no one else's. She was putting her reputation on the line for them after all, and his impaling Shu would likely end up with her wearing chains right beside him.

Vikander tapped a small gavel upon the table.

"These proceedings are hereby underway. Captain Iro, what of the marine casualties?"

"We've loaded all of the fallen men into the hold," Iro stated grimly. "All deaths can be attributed to Rameses and the Chess Piece Pirates. As such, the prisoners are restrained and ready for transport and we are prepared to leave with the sunrise."

Smoker nodded. "I'll remain here with my ship until the wounded are ready to return to Navy headquarters."

"What is Juzo Rameses' current condition?" Vikander asked, almost with clinical disinterest.

Iro made a disgusted face. "Crippled, but alive. We have him shackled with every chain on board. I had the shipwrights break open one of the emergency water tanks and fill it with seawater. He's been placed inside the tank up to his neck. The saltwater should keep him subdued for the duration of the voyage, but nonetheless I'll have three men stationed to watch him around the clock."

"It's better than he deserves. You should just kill him." Etain interjected as she stroked her chin with long fingers. "He killed our Captain and most of our crew. We're owed retribution. Do it now while he's unconscious. Last time you chose to simply imprison him, and how many of yours are dead now because of it?"

"She's right." Came a voice from the shadows. Every head turned to look towards the far side of the room where a slim woman sat idly upon the galley's counter like a moth would perch itself at the edge of a dry leaf. She had short dark hair with a silver streak down the left side, which failed to hide the emerald shine of her bright eyes. Her voice was relaxed and composed like a librarian, yet upon her chest, she wore a silver breastplate with an emblem of golden wings above her heart.

"And you are?" Vikander asked with mild irritation.

Smoker answered for her

"Callisto the Valkyrie. Pirate Bounty Hunter. I requested her presence when I heard she had arrived. Aside from the Marines and Warlords, she's delivered the greatest number of heads to Impel Down. She was essential in transporting Crocodile and the other members of Baroque Works into custody after the battle in Alabasta."

"Didn't get them all though." She raised an eyebrow as she glanced over at Robin. The young woman returned her gaze with an icy, undaunted stare.

Zoro was taken aback by just how ordinary the woman looked. She could have just been another of a thousand women he would pass in the marketplace buying fish and not give a second thought. He didn't feel that sharp warrior's intuition that so often seemed to emanate from the enemies they encountered. A feeling like static electricity traveling up your spine. Smoker had it. Marion had also carried it. But with this woman, he couldn't detect the slightest hint of danger.

He wasn't sure if he should have been worried about that or not.

Tashigi leaned over and whispered in Zoro's ear. "She's one of the best there is. The Navy trusts her enough to safeguard Rameses for this voyage."

"I apologize I'm late. I was inspecting the prisoner's quarters." Callisto tossed her hair. "And I have to agree with the pirate's suggestion. If any of you had any sense, you'd allow me to kill him."

"The World Government does not require the subjective advice of a lone vigilante." Vikander dismissed her and began to flip through the wanted posters in his file. "Juzo Rameses, acquired. Colette Carlyle, also known as Lady Rook, acquired. Castor Voss, referred to as Pawn, acquired. Has there been any sign of the unidentified pirate known as The Bishop?"

Tashigi shook her head. "Marion Colfax vanished with her. We presumed she'd be somewhere on the island, but we've been unable to locate her. The Seastone cell we had originally planned to hold Rameses in was vacant. That had seemed the most likely place for Colfax to drop her, but then again, she wouldn't have been able to use her ability to transport back out."

"Shame." The magistrate replied simply. "Would have loved to have collected the entire chess set. Make sure the men remain vigilant in trying to locate her."

There was something not right about the man's voice, Zoro considered. It was smooth, yet brusque. Firm, yet uncertain. Learned, yet clumsy. It was like a square peg being forced into a round hole. Outwardly, the man appeared professional, yet something about his demeanor was unbalanced.

"In the name of the Imperial Navy, in the absence of the High Admirals, I will pass down sentencing. For the crime of piracy, capital murder and the malicious destruction of Navy vessels, Juzo Rameses is to be sequestered for life in the very lowest level of Impel Down. Colette Carlyle is likewise sentenced to life in Level Four and Castor Voss in Level Three. Effective immediately."

He shut the folder.

"Regarding the Naval Officers who had knowledge of Rameses before he was freed, a hearing will take place in seven days. Clearly the information from which the Chess Piece Pirates were able to find him was acquired through Navy channels."

"I suspect they learned of our plan to ambush them here on Russet Peak through the same channels." Smoker commented. "I would suggest a recall of every vessel and officer who knew of the attack to Marine Headquarters for a private interrogation."

"I agree, and it would be my pleasure to conclude these proceedings at that. Still, I can't help but notice there are six pirates seated amongst us, all of them with bounties on their heads and _three_ of them on the high-value target's list. I've never seen three high-value targets in one place before."

"We're all aware of the irony of the situation." Smoker stated. "The Black Clovers came to us in good faith to form a temporary alliance which no doubt saved innocent lives. It was because of them we were able to locate Rameses as quickly as we did. As for the Straw Hats, I granted permission for Tashigi to recruit who she felt was trustworthy or capable of helping us recapture Rameses. As you've no doubt noticed, her intuitions proved to be correct. As such, they fall under the terms of the same temporary alliance."

Smoker cast a long look at Luffy.

"They will be allowed to leave unhindered, but after the wake from their ship has vanished, that protection will end."

Nami cast her eyes about the room nervously, but none of the other Straw Hats looked the least bit concerned at Smoker's menacing reminder.

"I would argue that you may be extending them an overindulgence of additional courtesy by having them seated here at all, given that The Black Clovers at least had nothing to do with the Buster Call at Enies Lobby."

Vikander glanced at Shu.

"How many Marines died that day?" He asked with the faintest hint of bitter malice.

_So that's why the man was here…._ Zoro thought as he idly cracked his knuckles.

"We still don't have an exact count," Shu responded as his eyes narrowed. "At the very least, eighty-five hundred. Far more than were killed by Juzo Rameses."

Robin spoke for the first time.

"And I was in shackles standing right next to Spandam when the call was ordered. The Straw Hats didn't destroy your island. Your officer did."

"Oh, there's no dispute about that," Vikander replied curtly. "Clearly it was in poor judgment to give Spandam authority over that island, but what's also obvious is that had the Straw Hats never invaded the island with their allies from Water Seven, the belligerent oaf wouldn't have panicked and ordered the call in the first place."

"Speaking of former officer Spandam, as I recall he was never brought to trial to answer for his actions," Callisto added from the back of the room. "Why was that?"

Zoro sensed the question was rhetorical.

"Because I killed him," Robin answered with little hesitation and even less remorse. "I broke his spine and felt the breath escape his lungs. I'd do it again too. That man was a monster."

"Exactly the type of cold-blooded response I would expect from a former member of Baroque Works." Callisto brushed her hair from her face.

"I'm sorry, did I miss something?" Nami spoke up, her nervousness having evaporated into spite. She turned on Callisto. "Last I checked, you're not even a member of the Navy, and the Straw Hats are not on trial."

"They're not," Tashigi said firmly, coming to her defense.

"Not at this time," Vikander remarked casually. "But what is decided here will impact what kind of threat the Navy will classify the Straw Hats as in future. It would be woefully unethical not to address the facts presented before me, and the fact is we've just had a pirate freely admit to the murder of one of our officers. I was called to pass judgment on a handful of pirate criminals, yet I find myself seated among twice as many more, for arguably more heinous crimes."

"Yota… Enough." Smoker hissed and straightened up in his chair. "You are here at my invitation, and the Chess Piece Pirates and their crimes are what are to be addressed during this assembly."

"Very well," The man shrugged. "But as I stated to you upon my arrival, I'm surprised you omitted the exact number of wanted pirates in attendance to your superiors. I'm sure they'll be eager to learn why that was when you give your report back at Navy Headquarters. I would hate to see a highly decorated officer such as yourself stripped of his accolades because the Terrorists of Enies Lobby were allowed to walk free."

"Terrorists?" Nami gasped in horror.

Zoro was on his feet in an instant, but still wasn't as fast as Luffy.

"Hey! Shut up you jerk! Rob Lucci and CP9 attacked Water Seven, kidnapped our friend and took her to Enies Lobby to execute her!"

"It was never our intention for anyone to die!" Nami protested. "We were trying to protect a member of our crew!"

"CP9 was lawfully stationed upon Water Seven and lawfully arrested Nico Robin for her crimes as a member of Baroque Works." Vikander interlaced his fingers calmly.

"Bullshit!" Zoro grimaced. "That half-faced gutless officer wanted her dead because she was the only survivor of Ohara! Who answered for the deaths of all those civilians during that Buster Call?"

"Enough!" Smoker stood upright, nearly knocking his chair over behind him. "The Straw Hats have not been formally charged with the destruction of Enies Lobby. They are guilty only in the court of public opinion. One day they will stand trial for their actions, including Spandam's murder, but it will be at the summon of the High Admirals, not us, and not here."

"We gathered the Straw Hats here in good faith!" Tashigi stood and attempted to stare down the magistrate. "Roronoa Zoro saved my life out on that beach today when he and his crewmate could have easily left me and the other marines for dead. Despite the personal risk, they chose to stand their ground and fight our common enemy. I will not allow them to be punished for that service."

Vikander glanced sideways at Smoker and Iro. "Are all attending Officers willing to accept the repercussions of that decision?"

"Yes!" Tashigi declared.

"I will." Smoker acknowledged bitterly as he straightened his chair and sat back down again.

"Not I." Shu hissed like a serpent. "I propose we lock them below with Rameses and the other criminals."

"You're outvoted and outranked," Iro responded to Shu's words as he wiped his brow. "They crippled Juzo Rameses, do you really want to try and restrain them? Do you want to risk more death? This is my ship, and though it may be the last order I ever give, both the Straw Hats and the Black Clovers are to be allowed to leave unencumbered. They have until noon tomorrow to set sail."

"Very well." Vikander tapped his gavel upon the table. "A consensus has been made. I hope none of you live to regret your actions."

"The Black Clovers wish to be able to bury their dead upon the island." Ink stated. "And afterward we want assurances that none of the graves will be pillaged or despoiled by the Navy."

"You have our word." Smoker agreed.

Etain and Ink stood and walked out of the galley before Vikander could be given the opportunity to object to their request.

"Callisto, you will sail with Captain Iro, Vikander and Shu to Impel Down and stand guard over the prisoners." Smoker looked at the Bounty Hunter. The other Chess Piece Pirates are out there, and I wouldn't put it past them to attempt a rescue."

"My normal rate applies?" She raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

Smoker nodded.

"Consider it done." She nodded with a sly grin.

* * *

Out upon the sand Tashigi escorted the Straw Hats back to their ship.

"I appreciate what you said in there, but you know the Navy will just use you as another tool in their arsenal to try and capture us again?" Nami looked at the young woman.

"Perhaps." She admitted. "But not tonight. Tonight you will all get to rest easy on your own ship, not inside a cell."

"I am _never_ going to just sit down and be silent again!" Luffy snarled and spun on Tashigi. "Who is that Vikander guy to judge us, that our actions were more criminal than Spandam's or Lucci's?"

"Luffy…" Tashigi sighed. "It's not that I don't see your point…"

Robin Interrupted her.

"This World Government you choose to put your faith in is just as morally corrupt as the majority of the pirates on the Grand Line, but because they're better funded and organized they've found a way to justify their actions to themselves, no matter what innocents they may hurt. Like those on Ohara. How can you possibly defend them?" She added with disdain.

Tashigi spun and drew her sword, slicing at Robin's cowboy hat and knocking it off her head. Zorro parried her blade with one of his own, but it was clear that was as far as the marine intended to take it.

"Who are _you_ to talk?" Tashigi snapped.

Robin stared at Tashigi for half a moment in wide-eyed amazement before her eyes narrowed and her face settled into a subdued, close to reconciliatory expression.

"Do you even know what she did before she joined your crew?" Tashigi asked the group as she stared as Robin. "Has she told you what she did in Crocodile's name?"

"Tashigi…" Nami put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Robin has changed."

"Oh really?" Tashigi hissed, her normally stoic eyes filled with fire. "I joined the Navy to _save_ lives, never to harm anybody! Do you know how many bodies used to wash up on the shore of the beach where I lived? _Dozens_. Every day. From pirates destroying merchant ships and tossing bodies into the channel. They were just people trying to make a living. Slaughtered for sport."

Tashigi's blade quivered in her hand as Zoro slowly lowered it away from Robin's face with his own blade.

"That's the code you all believe in. Lawlessness. Have your adventure and sail away, no matter who it may hurt. Well, let me tell you something. Someone has to stay behind and pick up the pieces. I've done great things with the Navy, supplying fresh water to stranded sailors, bringing medical aid to abandoned children, and providing protection from pirates who just want to take, squander, and give nothing back."

"We aren't those types of people." Zoro reminded her softly.

"Neither is the Navy." Tashigi wiped at her eye. "Yes, we've made countless mistakes. Yes, half of our officers are corrupt. We've bent laws in the name of righteousness, but justice is sloppy, and without us, there would be no one between you and the Juzo Rameses' of the world. We're the only ones who even try to make a difference."

"You're right," Zoro replied simply. "You represent the best of what the Navy could be."

Tashigi plunged her blade down into the center of Robin's cowboy hat, impaling it before tossing it across the sand.

"That's for nearly killing me in Alabasta." She hissed at Robin before sheathing her blade and marching back to Iro's ship. She didn't turn to look back at any of them.

Robin sighed. Without even bothering to collect her hat she continued to make her way back to their ship, looking more ashamed than Zoro had ever seen her. Luffy made an impatient snorting sound to Tashigi's back and followed behind Robin. Nami and Zoro looked after the young marine for a moment before following behind their captain.

"Was Tashigi really faster than you just now?" Nami looked sideways at Zoro. "She could have taken Robin's head off."

"I knew she wouldn't," Zoro responded somberly. "She doesn't hurt people. We owed her that moment."

"She's too good for the Navy," Nami muttered.

"She's too good for any of us," Zoro replied.


	8. Chapter 8

**PART EIGHT: Ashes **

Nami couldn't sleep.

She rolled out of her bed and located her sandals by the glow of the silver moonlight navigating itself through the porthole. Slipping on a t-shirt and shorts as quietly as she could so as not to disturb her roommate, she carefully slid their cabin door open and stepped outside into the warm sea air. As she turned the corner to take the steps down to the main deck, she realized her earlier consideration inside the room had been unnecessary.

Robin was sitting on the stairs in her robe staring out at the twinkling night sky, the breeze catching playfully at her dark hair.

"Hi…" She whispered to Nami as the young woman took a seat next to her.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked.

The older woman nodded her head in the direction of the beach where a single tent with a Black Clover flag was sitting in isolation from the others, hidden in the shadows where not even the moon's enchanting diamond light could reflect off it.

"He hasn't left the tent in over eight hours." She stated softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I tried visiting him…"

"How is he?" Nami asked, daring to hope.

Robin shook her head. "It's not good, Nami. I barely recognize him. You know that eager sparkle of life in his eyes whenever he tries charming us? There's only gray ash there now. He's breathing, but I'm afraid his spirit may have died on the sand right beside her."

Nami folded her arms onto her knees and rested her chin upon them as she gazed out across the beach, suddenly terrified at the notion of forever losing the obnoxious yet charismatic behavior Sanji had always exhibited.

"I never knew he had a history with anyone." Nami whispered as she gazed at the tent. "He's always been so easy to understand. As shallow as a clam shell, but now he's suddenly in so much pain. So vulnerable. Exposed in a way he's never been before. He really loved Marion, didn't he?"

Robin nodded. "I think Sanji's interpretation of love would have to be examined using a wide-angle lens, but yes, in a deep, dark, subconscious place, I think he's always loved her."

"How much though?" Nami pressed. "Do you think… if either of us had… would he be like this too?"

Robin took her friend's hand and squeezed it. "I'm not sure. I'd like to think if he lost one of us, he'd find a way to smile again one day. Return to being the man that we understand and appreciate."

Nami felt something deep inside her stomach twinge. She knew she had absolutely no reason to feel guilty for all the stonewalling and harsh rejections she had ever delivered to Sanji while they sailed together. He could be charming, but his fawning was usually outright shameless bordering on perverted.

He still needed to learn to respect boundaries, but she couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret for the half a dozen times she had dismissed him out of habit, even when she was very impressed or even proud of him. It had just become easier to shut him out because she assumed nothing she could do would ever break his confident, doting spirit.

Now she wasn't as sure, and the fact that she cared about that distinction wasn't lost on her. Maybe there was some place inside her hidden away that loved Sanji in a way that wasn't entirely platonic or passive, and while it wasn't necessarily something she wanted to fuel, she didn't want to lose it either.

"Who's been to see him?" She asked as her mind refocused on the present moment.

"Chopper has seen him four times. He can't get him to budge. Tashigi tried as well, to her credit. Luffy and Usopp went together but neither of them is especially graceful with words of sympathy or condolence."

"Zoro?"

Robin exhaled a sad chuckle. "What do you think?"

Nami smirked and immediately dismissed the thought. Zoro's philosophy about any type of emotion seemed to be to hide it deep within oneself and not bother anyone else about it. He was the absolute last person on the ship, possibly on the entire Grand Line, she would expect to have any skill with grief counseling.

"I guess that leaves me then…" She admitted. "I should have gone earlier, but it's like I've been afraid to try."

Robin gave her friend a one-armed hug.

"You're the beating heart of this crew Nami. You've probably been since the very beginning when there were only three of you. I feel if there's any hope of him ever forgiving himself, you're the one to help him see it."

"I'm worried I won't be able to." She responded meekly.

"From what I've heard, the only reason he joined the Straw Hats was to try and win your affections. I'm sure you'll find a way to remind him of happier times." The dark-haired woman assured her. "I didn't know Marion, but I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted him to wither away like this, so if not for him, let's try to bring him back for her."

Nami slowly stood up and kissed her friend's hand before letting it go. "I don't care what Tashigi says. She doesn't know you like I do."

Robin paused, and Nami saw the expression behind her eyes change.

"She's not wrong, Nami…" Robin whispered in a mournful, embarrassed tone. "None of you ever asked me specifics about my time with Baroque Works. I've done things…"

"And none of that matters now." Nami cut her off. "We don't need to know. It's not about who you were then. All that matters is who you are now."

Robin forced a grateful smile as Nami walked down the steps.

"I'll come back with good news." She stated as she made her way off the ship.

Robin felt a cold pang of guilt stab deeply into her navel as a furious conflict erupted inside her head. The Straw Hats had never treated her as anything other than family, even risking their lives to infiltrate Enies Lobby to save her life. They had helped her rekindle her passion for life when her guilt and despair had threatened to overwhelm her.

Now that same guilt for hiding the secrets of her past from them for so long was tearing at her. Nami said that not knowing didn't matter to the crew, but it was definitely starting to matter to her. Deep down she knew it was just a matter of time before someone else revealed her darkest secrets, and when that day came, would they still treat her as family, or would they feel betrayed and cast her from the group for never telling them the truth?

She covered her eyes with her hands, and for the first time since her desperate cry for help from that balcony, she broke down in tears.

* * *

Etain was sitting hunched forward on a crate close to the tent as Nami approached. The young pirate lifted a wine bottle to her lips and drained the remaining contents before tossing it sideways into the sand. The woman's hair was in a disheveled, drunken mess and her cloak was draped heavily over her shoulders like a veil. She belched a grotesque wet croak and glanced sideways up at her.

"What do you want?" She gave Nami a suspicious once-over.

"I wanted to see my friend."

Etain slid a fingernail up between two of her upper teeth.

"Figures. The Straw Hats don't suffer one casualty, but the pretty-boy cook's heart is broken, and he still gets more attention than the entirety of my crew."

"I didn't mean… It's just… Sanji's in pain. He knew Marion from childhood."

Etain spat.

"Oh, all of us Clovers know. I never even met him before today, but the ghost of his memory has been stalking Marion across the sea for years. He was always there among us in shadow, practically as tangible as the wind. He never offered any insight but always seemed to influence Marion's decisions."

The woman began picking at a different crack between her teeth.

"Marion Colfax was the most fearless person I ever knew, but she always wore her heart on her sleeve for that dratted high-kicking chef she met as a kid in the East Blue. And then, when she finally reaches out to him for help, and we dare to think he may live up to his reputation, she ended up throwing her life away to protect him."

Etain looked back up at Nami with a poisonous hatred in her eyes. "But hey, now he's finally realizing the kind of pain he put her through all those years, and everyone's distraught over his suffering. Who are we to stand in the way of his loss? We were only the family who had her back every day since he dismissed her to chase other pretty sea wenches like yourself."

Nami felt a defiant rage build up inside her, but her words of retort caught in her throat. She couldn't bring herself to lash out at the woman. From where the foxtail-laced pirate was sitting, everything she felt about Sanji seemed completely justified, and now wasn't the time to try to explain the bigger picture in an attempt to change her mind.

"I'm sorry about Marion." Nami said flatly. "And I'm sorry about your crew."

Etain shot up quickly and for a second Nami thought she was about to strike her, but instead the woman wiped at her mouth with the back of her wrist.

"Don't be. Take him back to your bed and ride him. He'll forget about her and be just fine. The mighty Straw Hats live to fight another day… Because that's all that matters isn't it…?"

Etain set her hat back upon her tousled hair and half staggered, half lurched back in the direction of her ship.

Nami turned and stared at the tent flap apprehensively, unsure of whether to announce herself or not. She tilted her head and listened for any type of sound from within but could not detect even a whisper of activity. She made herself take a deep, resolute breath.

"Sanji?" She spoke quietly. "It's Nami. May I come in?"

There was no answer.

If he was inside, he had to have already heard the conversation between herself and Etain and know she was there. She decided to just rip the bandage off and enter.

She slowly poked her head inside the tent and immediately felt the poignant, hostile change in the small space around her like an increase in air pressure. Marion's body lay covered in a white sheet upon a wooden pyre at the center of the tent, and it almost seemed to be sucking in all the oxygen around it, pulling in every heartbroken regret that encircled it like a black hole. Her hat and sword lay upon her breast in a crude attempt at a memorial that respected her position in life, but pirates were rarely very pious about such things. Her long green locks hadn't even been combed properly and they spilled down from under the sheet as though crying out for proper attention.

Sanji sat on the far end of the tent near Marion's head. He was hunched forward as though examining the sand between his feet. His normally pristine button-up shirt was open, displaying numerous dark bruises across his chest. The jacket and tie lay forgotten in a crumpled heap by his ankles and his wounded arm hung limply from a sling attached to his bandaged shoulder. Scattered across the ground all around her were cold cigarette butts. He must have finished the pack because he wasn't smoking anymore. Even that faint spark of life that normally danced at the end of his lighthearted smirk had been extinguished.

"Sanji?" She tried again as she slowly maneuvered her way around the pyre, trying to remain focused on him while not being disrespectful towards the body. Ever since they had found the note he had hidden in the lunchbox with their location, Nami had envisioned slapping him as hard as she could across his smug face to punish him for making her worry. Now, those feelings of furious annoyance and relief seemed to have disappeared to a place far out of reach, and all she could find to summon within her now was a painful longing for her friend to heal and return to being the man who had made her so frustrated.

While they may have physically located Sanji's body, the charming blonde chef they had last seen aboard their ship days before was still lost.

She knelt in front of him and placed a careful hand on his knee.

"Sanji…? It's Nami."

"I'm not leaving…" He finally murmured in an exhausted grunt as he lifted his head a fraction of an inch and peeked up through his bangs at her. For the first time since she entered the tent, he seemed to recognize exactly who she was.

"Nami…." He stated after a moment, more an identification than a greeting. "It's my fault… I couldn't…."

Robin hadn't been exaggerating. His normally bright eyes were as dead as coal, and even though the inflection in his voice had changed slightly when he spoke her name, there wasn't any hint of relief or joy.

"Nami…" He whispered again, as though echoing himself. "I'm sorry I'm not…"

His words faltered.

She wiped his bangs away and then took his good hand in both of hers. It didn't surprise her that it was ice cold to the touch, and for the first time she noticed that he was holding a silver charm in the shape of an anchor inside his clenched fist.

"No Sanji… No more apologies. Please, look at me…" She took hold of his chin and made him look her in the eye. "Do you know what Marion would say to you right now if she could? Get up off your ass and be with your friends. Be proud of who you are. It would break her heart to see you like this. I know that because it's breaking mine…"

Where had those words come from, she suddenly wondered.

Sanji's eyes seemed to flutter and then a fresh tear rolled down his cheek.

"I saw what happened, Sanji." Nami continued. "She saved your life, and I'll forever be grateful to her for that, but she didn't act in that moment expecting anything from you in return. She chose to do what she did because she loved you."

"She threw her life away…" Sanji muttered bitterly and shut his eyes.

"Hey!" Nami made her voice harsh. "Don't you ever say that. My mother did the exact same thing to save my life once, and she smiled as it happened because it was her choice. Sacrificing your life for someone else's is probably the noblest thing anyone can do for someone they care about. Don't you dare cheapen what Marion did for you like it was a mistake."

Nami's temper flaring seemed to energize him somewhat because he suddenly gritted his teeth in fury.

"My mother died for me too!" He snapped. "No one else was ever supposed to sacrifice themselves for me! Marion wasn't supposed to die before I told her…."

"She knew." Nami cut him off.

"How do you…?"

"Trust me Sanji… she knew." She repeated herself in a more soothing tone. "You're a warrior Sanji, and you have so many good causes left to fight for. So many more people to save. Do you know what you were to your mother and Marion? Someone worth dying for."

Nami felt tears of her own starting to well up as the darkness behind Sanji's eyes seemed to fade and a glimmer of light reemerged.

"Do you want to know something I've never told anyone? Not even my sister?" She asked.

Sanji wiped at his face with his sleeve as he nodded.

"Right before we all left Cocoyasi I was wandering through my mom's house. I guess I was saying goodbye in my own way, making peace with the fact I'd never see her again. I was devastated, but I was excited as well. I was finally free to follow my dream, and she knew it. I felt her presence there, Sanji. I was alone, but I felt her give me a hard shove right out the door. It was her way of saying, "Get going… Have some adventures. Be the person you're meant to be."

Nami smiled and wiped at her eyes, the memory of her mother tearing open an old wound deep within her soul.

"She was proud of me at that moment Sanji, and she had no regrets about the choice she made. If she was there with me then, I know Marion is with you now, and she's smiling too because she can't wait to see you stand up and become the person you're meant to be."

Sanji appeared to surrender to his grief and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her shoulder. He sobbed deeply, but there was an intensity behind it now that hadn't been there moments before. There was fresh, raw emotion where previously there had only been cold suffocating sorrow. She had broken through his walls and made him understand something no one else could.

She lowered her own head and rested it against his shoulder as well. After a moment she felt her stomach rumble.

That seemed to catch his attention and he stood almost immediately, wiping at his face before beginning to button up his shirt.

"Are you hungry?" He asked her.

She gave him a warm smile and nodded.

* * *

Nami stood at Sanji's side the following morning as the Black Clover pirates gathered around Marion's pyre to say their final goodbyes. The tent had been taken down at daybreak and the wooden platform had been fortified with a ring of stones.

Unable to find anything suitable in her own wardrobe for such a solemn occasion she had borrowed a plain navy-blue dress from Robin that she felt was as close to respectful as she could get.

Sanji had changed into a clean suit and stood at the head of the pyre, his good arm down by his side gently holding Nami's hand. His eyes were still puffy and red with tears, but his chin was held high, and that noted a significant change from the night before.

Standing on her other side were Robin, Usopp, and Chopper, all choosing to attend in support of Sanji as well, each with their heads bowed and hands folded, silently thanking the departed woman in their own way for saving their friend.

Tashigi stood at the crowd's edge showcasing a black band around the arm of her navy uniform in recognition of a fallen ally. She was the only marine to attend amongst the crowd of pirates.

Ink and Etain walked forward towards the pyre at the center of the half-circle of onlookers each carrying a lit torch.

Ink paused a moment before clearing his throat.

"Today, we honor the heroic actions of our fallen brothers and sisters. Every one of them lived free in accordance with their own values, and every battle they engaged in was of a just cause. What they all had in common was they chose to follow the same woman. Our noble captain, Marion Colfax. She had the ability to help us each summon the strength within us we didn't even know we possessed. A leader who never raised the anchor until every member of her crew was safe and accounted for. A mentor whose willpower not even the fiercest storm could overcome. There will never be another Black Clover as courageous and as mighty as her."

Etain rested her hand upon the body's shoulder.

"Marion once told me there was no reason to be a pirate if you couldn't find a reason to celebrate every moment you spent upon the sea. She was an old soul, wise beyond her years, and determine to make everyone around her love life as much as she did. She sought to make the world a better place and always give as much as she gained. Whenever our flag is caught in the wind as we sail towards the sunrise, I'll remember the gleam in her eye and her exuberant laughter, and I'll remind myself to celebrate the moment."

She bent down and kissed the section of sheet over Marion's forehead.

"You were the best of us, Marion. May we forever carry with us the virtues you so easily demonstrated, and may your name never be forgotten."

The two pirates lowered the torches slowly upon the pyre, and the harsh scent of scorched wood and smoke invaded Nami's senses as the woodpile caught fire.

"To the Captain!" A pirate at the back raised his arm and cried out.

All the Clovers responded immediately with a bellow of mournful cheering.

Sanji didn't blink as the smoke grew thicker but kept his eyes upon the body of his oldest friend while the flames rose higher.

After several minutes of silence, Tashigi came forward to stand beside them.

"Marion chose to confront a problem that she didn't create and that anyone else would probably have run from. When she contacted me, she didn't demand terms or try to win any favor with the Navy. She never thought about helping herself. She was only ever thinking of the lives she could save. If every pirate were like her, there would be no need for Marines."

Sanji gave a quick nod of appreciation and Nami smiled back at the bespeckled woman.

"Most other navy officers probably would have ignored her, or worse, arrested her on the spot, but you recognized her for who she was. As far as capturing Rameses, you were every bit as crucial as she was."

Tashigi gave a modest smirk. "Thanks, but it's not over until he arrives at Impel Down."

She turned to look at Ink and Etain. "The Navy has granted you clemency for the time being. What will you do now?"

Etain bit her lip. "Drink like heathens until we all pass out. Then we'll hold a vote as to who will carry on the mantle of captain in her name."

"Aren't you already the captain of the _Kraken's Fang?_" Tashigi asked.

"Only because Marion was in command of the fleet. Now that there's just the one ship left, our crew has the right to make their own choice as to who to lead them next."

"What about you?" Nami asked Tashigi.

"I have to report back to Naval Headquarters to give my report with Smoker. With any luck we can persuade the Admirals to give Vice Admiral Garp the command of capturing the Straw Hats and bringing them in to stand trial for Enies Lobby. I'm assuming he'd be the most likely to persuade you all to come quietly?"

"You'll have to find us first." Nami winked.

"We will." Tashigi raised a confident eyebrow.

Robin chose that moment to timidly step forward and hold out her hand to Tashigi.

"I'm sorry about Alabasta. You're right, I have done terrible things in the past, but I hope you believe me when I say that now I'm with people who are helping me make amends for those transgressions. I have so many enemies out there already, I'd very much like to not count you among them anymore."

The marine adjusted her glasses and gave Robin a hard, cynical look before slowly raising her own hand to shake hers.

"I know what happened at Ohara, Robin. It was indefensible. I don't blame you for your fury, but if you can really find it within yourself to forgive at least some of us, I'd say we're more fortunate than we deserve."

Robin gave her a sad smile. "A precious few of you."

"Then I'm twice as fortunate." Tashigi nodded back.

* * *

Luffy and Zoro sat with Smoker further up the beach, observing the funeral from afar.

"So Spandam and CP9 were only ever after the plans to this supposed superweapon? That's news to me. That's why this Cutty Flam guy was involved?" Smoker growled as he stroked his chin.

Zoro nodded. He had recounted to the best of his ability the exact circumstances that had led to the Straw Hats arriving at Enies Lobby and what had transpired as they attempted to rescue Robin.

"But he destroyed the plans?" Smoker asked.

"He burned them. Afterwards he left Water Seven and went into hiding. He knew the Navy might send others after him regardless."

"Perhaps. Rob Lucci is still alive after all." Smoker commented.

Luffy's head shot up from where he had been reclining it upon his arms in shock and rage.

"What? Where is he?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't tell you if I did." Smoker glowered as he chewed his cigars.

"You're insane if you think the Navy can control him." Zoro looked Smoker directly in the eye, daring him to contradict him. "He's a loose cannon. If left to his own devices more marines are going to get killed."

"CP9 has been disbanded, but I don't doubt what you say. Spandam was a callous, incompetent buffoon and I never had any doubt Lucci only pretended to serve him because he was easy to manipulate."

He exhaled a large cloud of smoke. "The problem is, even if I believe everything you say, I'm not the one you have to convince. I have my orders, and the longer you choose to run the more likely some or all of you will end up dead. Lucci is hardly the worst the Navy can throw at you. I'm giving you one more chance. Follow me back to Navy Headquarters under a white flag. No shackles, no cells, and I promise you'll be given a fair hearing. You just bought yourself some goodwill with the Navy. I'd advise you not to squander it."

"Not a chance." Luffy rested his head back on his arms again. "I'm going to find the One Piece and become king of the pirates. We don't have to answer to the Navy and hope they accept what we did. Especially when we already know it was the right thing to do."

"Think about your crew." Smoker pushed. "Do you really want to see Nico Robin and your navigator hauled away in chains? That reindeer thing caged up in some prison where he'll never be able to treat anyone again?"

"Smokey, I don't care what you do. For as long as I live, that will never happen to any member of my crew." Luffy lowered his hat over his eyes. "If you come for us, we'll fight you, and we'll win. If anyone else comes for us, we'll fight them, and we'll win. We beat Crocodile. We beat Enel. We beat Lucci. And we beat Rameses. I'm not worried."

"And each time people got hurt." Smoker countered. "How long until one of your own winds up on a funeral pyre? I'm trying to help you avoid that."

Luffy didn't respond. Zoro wondered if he had fallen asleep.

"We'll take our chances." The swordsman grimaced as he stood up. "But do me a favor. I know you'll have to send someone after us, so please humor me and make it Shu."

Smoker gave Zoro a long, bitterly cold glare. "I almost admire you Roronoa Zoro."

"Same." The young man replied. "So here's hoping we don't meet again."

Smoker's transponder snail began to warble.

* * *

Sanji sat upon the sand with Ink and toasted Marion again with a hearty brown ale. He fingered the silver anchor charm that had once hung in her hair again before tucking it safely into his suit jacket.

"Our cook only knows how to cook fish and make soup." Ink chuckled. "Marion found him in a navy stockade listing ingredients out loud for chowder. More often than not the Black Clovers just drink their meals."

"What a waste." Sanji shook his head as Nami walked over to him across the beach. She had changed back into her usual shorts and t-shirt, and her short orange hair was catching the breeze as if it was dancing. The young chef felt a surge of passionate affection begin to stir in his loins as he watched her approach. It was the first time the familiar feeling of desire had awoken within him since Marion had died, and while part of him still felt broken, another part of him was beginning to remember how lucky he was to still have his place amongst the Straw Hats.

Nami was such a beautiful woman after all…

"Hey there." She greeted him as she sat down. "The day is getting on. We have to set sail before noon. Are you going to be much longer? I didn't mention it before, but Robin and I have some new swimsuits we'd love to do some sunbathing in. You know of anyone who'd be willing to make us some drinks?"

"Lucky bastard." Ink muttered as he raised his mug of beer to his lips again.

Sanji smirked and stood up eagerly, holding out his good arm for Nami to take.

"My lady, please let me escort you back to the ship and I'll prepare the sunscreen."

_"INK!"_ Etain suddenly called furiously from across the beach.

Sanji and Nami paused as the black-haired pirate stood and tore back towards the _Kraken's Fang_, nearly colliding with Tashigi as she made her way towards them.

"What's going on?" Sanji asked as she reached them and caught her breath.

"Smoker just got word on the transponder snail. There was a distress call from Iro's ship. Rameses somehow broke free."

Sanji's face contorted in rage as a red-hot fury of a thousand suns shot through his veins. He remembered the quill that had impaled Marion's chest and how the warmth had slowly left her body as he collapsed upon the sand with her in his arms.

Rameses could never be allowed to breathe free air again. Not as long as he could still launch a kick.

"The Clovers are setting sail immediately to intercept. Etain wants him dead." The young woman continued.

"What about the marines?" Nami asked.

Tashigi shook her head. "We have too many wounded aboard. Smoker has been ordered to return to Navy Headquarters. They're sending someone else to assist Iro."

"They'll never get there in time." Sanji snarled. "They'll get away, and then he'll kill someone else. She'll have died for nothing."

Sanji turned to look Nami in the eye, but she cut him off before he could speak, her eyes wide and terrified.

"Let's find the others and get back to the ship and we can follow the Clovers. We'll find him together, Sanji."

He knew as soon as she spoke the words that she was only saying them to prevent him from doing what he knew he had to do. His crew had been in the line of fire once, and however inadvertently, he had put them there. He wasn't going to allow that to happen a second time. He was not going to let anyone else die because of him.

He slowly raised Nami's hand to his lips and kissed the back of her knuckles.

"Sanji…." She pleaded as if sensing what was about to happen. "Don't!"

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he slipped the Log Pose delicately off her wrist and sprinted in the direction of the remaining Black Clover ship.

"_SANJI!" _She screamed after him.

Sanji tore across the beach, his eyes set on the departing ship refusing to look back at her, convinced that seeing the pain in her eyes would cause him to lose his nerve.

He stumbled as he suddenly felt one of Robin's cloned arms erupt from the sand beneath him and make a grab at his legs. He wrenched his bandaged arm up over his shoulder and discarded the sling. Leaping forward he pivoted off his hands and dodged two more attempts Robin made to trip him. He cartwheeled back upright and made a running leap across the shallows as he heard Luffy cry out.

"_Gomu Gomu no… Lasso!" _

He felt Luffy's elastic arm cut the air behind him and nearly encircle his waist before he pivoted in midair, kicked himself off the surface of the water, and landed expertly on one knee in the middle of the deck of the _Kraken's Fang_.

Etain drew her sword and pointed it under his chin as he stood.

"Let's go get him…" Sanji hissed.

* * *

Nami and Tashigi tore across the beach after Sanji, but the ship was already leaving the bay by the time they reached the waterline.

"How could you not grab hold of him?" Nami shouted at Luffy as Robin and Chopper rushed towards them.

Luffy's face was twisted in wrath as he roared a furious expletive after Sanji in the departing ship.

"We have to go after them!" Nami cried out in desperation.

"By the time we get underway, they'll be at the horizon." Robin pointed out grimly.

"We can't let him leave like this again!" Nami felt rage and fear clash together in a frenzied storm of panic inside her. "If we lose sight of them, we'll never find them again!"

Tashigi spoke up.

"We may not know where Iro's ship is, but if Rameses is free, I know where he'll likely be heading." She turned to Smoker. "Sir, what did you say Rameses told you?"

Smoker huffed. "He said he was coming for what was his."

"They're going to the Port of Damocles," Tashigi reported. "The birthplace of the Black Clovers and the haven Rameses built after resigning his position in the Navy."

"How do we get there? He took the Log Pose!" Nami pointed out.

"I know how to get there," Tashigi answered and glanced at Luffy. "I can take you there if you'll have me aboard."

Luffy hesitated, still staring out in rage across the water at the Black Clover ship, his fists clenched at his sides hard enough to break iron.

_"Luffy!_" Nami cried out with impatience.

"Let's go then." The young man hissed through his clenched teeth. "We're leaving now."

Tashigi paused and took a deep breath before addressing Smoker. "Sir, I request permission-"

"Granted." Smoker cut her off. "Go get that mutated bastard."

The towering marine glanced down at Luffy and Zoro. "If anything happens to her, I won't rest until I've found you both and mounted your heads upon my foredeck. You bring her back alive and unharmed."

"We will, but not for you," Zoro muttered a response.

"Let's move!" Nami ordered them as she took off running towards their ship. Robin, Chopper, and Tashigi close behind. Luffy and Smoker exchanged one last incredulous look before he followed them with Zoro at his heels.

Smoker's brow furrowed as he made his way towards the Navy vessel. The one thing that concerned him more than Rameses' escape was how exactly it could have happened, given who had been stationed on board to safeguard him.

If Rameses had broken free of his restraints, he hadn't done it without help. That meant of the handful of people he had trusted, all of them were now either dead or standing alongside the brute.

He hoped they were dead.

* * *

Usopp already had the sails up as they clambered aboard and raised the anchor.

"Where's your map room?" Tashigi asked.

"Follow me!" Nami took her arm and practically dragged her up the stairs.

Zoro looked over at his captain. "Just so I'm clear, are we going after Eyebrows or Rameses?"

"Both," Luffy responded. "Sanji's not going to stop until that scarecrow guy is put down for good, so let's make sure he stays down this time. Then I'm going to kick Sanji's ass until he forgets his own name."

"I'll help," Zoro responded.

Robin exhaled a deep breath as she watched the _Kraken's Fang_ ship begin to disappear out on the horizon, knowing deep down she could have ensnared Sanji upon the beach had she really wanted to, but something inside her had been reluctant, as if her attempting to stop him would have caused more harm than good, and would have resulted in them having to treat him like a prisoner on their own ship. Who were they to stop him when they could just as easily stand beside him?

She glanced over at Luffy, suddenly convinced that despite their captain's outward rage, he had been thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

Sanji, Ink, and Etain stood aboard the forward deck, staring out into the endless blue of the sea before them, the wind at their backs, the sun on their faces.

"They won't make it far in a stolen Navy ship. It attracts too much attention." Ink pointed out. "They'll have to regroup first. That will cost them time."

"Let's hope so," Sanji responded as he lit a new cigarette.

Etain finished counting all the slips of paper she had been carrying inside her hat.

"Not even close." She stated sourly as she crumpled up the ballots and tossed them over the side. "Blackfoot Sanji, as of now, you are the Acting Captain of the _Kraken's Fang._"

"It will be a short-term appointment." He assured her as he exhaled a plume of wispy smoke.

"You're damn right it will be, Straw Hat." The foxtail pirate replied and crossed her arms. "Marion never believed in anyone as much as she believed in you. You'd better prove to us she wasn't wrong. Show us why you deserve to stand in her shadow."

"I deserve nothing," Sanji replied. "No one will ever stand as tall as she did, but if I can do one thing in her name, it will be to finally rid the Grand Line of this scourge. And to become the man she always believed I could be."

He fastened the silver anchor charm to a string and slipped it over his neck so it hung above his heart, it's polished surface shining like a newborn star.

23


	9. Chapter 9

**PART NINE: Tartarus**

It was the smell that lured him to the dock. There was something different infused with the familiar aroma of damp and brine. Something pungent, corrosive, and raw.

Gazing out across the foamy sea through the curtain of dense fog he noticed a shape begin to take form as it approached. It was a ship he recognized. The massive pearl and black bulk of the Chess Piece Pirate's ship the _Grandmaster_ seemed to limp tentatively through the swells, clearly having recently sustained some heavy damage.

He tilted his head again and inhaled the sea air. It wasn't just the condition of the ship that had changed since he had last seen it, but the décor as well. There was a trail of blood poisoning the water in the ship's wake, and the explanation for such an extreme amount quickly became apparent. Lashed across both starboard and port sides of the ship were what remained of the crew. Each appeared to have had their legs severed at the knees and they were hung like grotesque living effigies across the hull to bleed out and attract the sharks.

He smiled to himself as he noticed the silhouette of a figure standing where the bowsprit met the foredeck, staring out in his direction. There was no need to worry. He was good at hiding in plain sight. Besides, he was aching to learn what brought one of the fiercest pirate organizations on the Grand Line sneaking back to their shores so soon after their last encounter.

There would be time enough to alert his Master of their arrival after whatever survivors on board had disembarked. There was no need to fear an assault of any kind here. The dead always outnumbered the living on the island of Thriller Bark.

* * *

Lady Rook was the first to saunter down the gangplank and set foot upon the ghostly rock that was occupied by one of the six remaining Pirate Warlords. Awkwardly chomping on an apple she gripped using her bandaged right forearm, she boldly strolled across the dock as though she was the most dangerous pirate upon the island.

In truth, it was more an effort to put as much distance between herself and the ship as quickly as possible. She had been surrounded by the stench of decaying flesh for too long and she was desperate to take in a deep breath of untainted air. At first the agonized screaming had been the worst of her problems, but after a few hours, the noise had stopped and was eventually replaced with the rancid, inescapable odor of death. Before long she had begun to prefer the screams.

It had been an unfortunate chore to cut apart her former crew. After they had arrived and saved her from the marine's clutches they had assumed all would be forgiven, but nothing could change the fact they had abandoned their position at Russet Peak and left the rest of them behind to fend for themselves. None of the Chess Piece Pirates were ever meant to be taken alive, and such a disgrace had tarnished their reputation. The oath breakers had to be made an example of, but that had left almost no one remaining to crew the ship.

Their arriving at Thriller Bark would not only be an opportunity to recruit some new blood but to immediately put the next phase of their plan into effect. While they had predicted the marines and Black Clovers would find additional troops to help swell their ranks, they never thought the Straw Hats, the actual destroyers of Enies Lobby, would ever have been selected. She had assumed the Navy would have wanted their heads far more than a single monstrous escaped convict.

The resulting defeat they had suffered had been equally humiliating, unfortunate, and had cost them far more than they had anticipated, but the Chess Piece Pirates always planned three moves ahead. A contingency for setbacks had been considered.

As she tossed her apple core into the sea, the hulking brute Pawn stomped down the ramp behind her, a limp and shackled body tossed over his shoulder like a sack of mulch.

"Don't lose that." She instructed him, glancing over her shoulder. "It's our only bargaining chip."

Pawn grunted an unconcerned response as she turned her attention to the remaining figures standing on the ship.

"Bring the chalice." She called to the leader. "The rest of you stay with Rameses. Make sure he doesn't lose his temper."

She closed her eyes, cracked her neck and bent sideways to stretch her arms over her head, causing her shirt to slip and better expose her cleavage.

That's when she heard it.

"Gotcha…" She whispered.

With the speed of a striking cobra, she drew her remaining blade and stabbed it underhanded sideways and upwards to her left, burying the point into something soft and meaty.

There came the bellow of an enraged, wounded animal, and Absalom, the part-man, part-lion general of Gecko Moria's army materialized before her, falling to his knees as he clutched at the bloody hole in his shoulder.

"You wretched bitch!" He snarled as he glared up at her.

She not-so-gently placed her blade under his chin and smirked. "I told you last time that if you ever got close to me again, I'd give you a new scar. Besides, a mouth breather like you could never be silent enough to sneak up on me. You weren't even downwind. What's the point of being invisible if you can't be stealthy?"

She wiped the blood off her blade using the shoulder of his overcoat and sheathed it again.

"You're too predictable. I knew all I had to do was flash some skin to draw you close enough to strike."

Absalom bared his teeth as he stood, looking furious enough to bite into her neck, but the towering hulk of Pawn standing just behind her made him reconsider and back down with a pathetic disappointed huff.

"Is he here?" Rook raised an eyebrow.

The golden-haired monster glanced at her wounds before taking a second look at the _Grandmaster's_ damage.

"Yes. What happened to you?"

"You'll find out when you bring him to us."

"And if I decide you're not worth his time?"

"Then I'll decide to add you to my collection." She tilted her head back toward the corpses strung from the bow of her ship before motioning Pawn to step forward.

"Besides, we have a shadow I'm sure he'll be interested in."

Absalom examined the unconscious figure the giant was carrying for a moment and his eyes went wide with surprise and alarm.

"How did you…?"

"Painfully." Rook cut him off. "Take us to Moria. Now."

* * *

Upon entering the inner courtyard of the mansion located at the exact center of the island, Lady Rook began to feel the first drops of rain. The heavy oak doors slammed shut behind them and she heard the cranking of a heavy drawbridge being hoisted up. Whatever plan the Pirate Warlord had in store for them, it clearly didn't involve them leaving the same way they had entered.

Absalom stopped in the middle of the cobblestone floor and the swordmaster paused directly behind him. She had tried to conceal the favoring of her wounded leg as best she could but doubted it mattered. During her last visit, she had been venerated and treated like a cherished ally, but the Warlords valued strength more than loyalty, and her weakened condition at that moment must have been so obvious it offended them. She felt like a broken stallion being led to a sterile room to be pitied for a fleeting instant before it was euthanized.

She glanced back at Pawn, still holding their prisoner, and the mute third pirate. If not for their gift they may have been dead already. Their hope had been that the shadow master's curiosity would overpower his fondness for merciless executions. So far, that risk seemed to be working in their favor, but she didn't intend to spend any time celebrating.

"Why here? Why not inside? The rain is coming." She demanded an answer from the patchwork lion.

"He's selected here as good a place as any to-"

She didn't wait for him to finish. Striding forward she shouted up the staircase towards the tower that served as the central mast of the island.

"Moria! Stop your parlor tricks and get down here! If I get soaked, I'm going to break your stupid horns off and put out your eyes!"

Absalom snarled in quiet fury, enraged by her contempt towards his master but before he could utter a word to reprimand her, a high-pitched hissing cackle began to echo throughout the courtyard. She winced at the offending sound but planted her feet and stared at the top of the steps as the massive form of Gecko Moria emerged from the darkness.

Standing a good ten feet taller than even Pawn, Moria was equally as grotesque as he was huge. His pear-shaped body accentuated his large pointed head and the impish fiery eyes of a gleeful child as it tore the legs off an insect. He had twin rows of devilish fangs that easily rivaled that of any colossal shark and wherever he moved a cold debilitating darkness seemed to follow him like a stench.

He unfurled himself like a giant spider from his dark hole, moving much more quickly and gracefully than anything so big should have been able to. He began to march down the steps to meet his guests, the wicked smile on his face so large it strained the sutures that ran up his neck and chin.

In appearance, Gecko Moria was the fiercest of all the Pirate Warlords, but in aspiration, strength, and strategy, Rook considered him the most flawed of all his counterparts.

As Moria continued to cackle the courtyard around them began to fill with dozens of horrific stitched-together zombie creatures, each chuckling a death rattle of their own. Amongst them was Doctor Hogback, the squat vampire-like scientist who recycled bodies for Moria's collection of shadows to animate. Floating in midair a few feet above him with the aid of an overlarge parasol was a young pink-haired woman named Perona. She had enormous dark eyes and a mischievous smile that could have doubled as a satisfied sneer.

"Why Colette…" Moria exclaimed as he continued descending the stairs, his approaching heavy footfalls threatening to buckle her legs beneath her. "Have you toppled the World Government already? There's no way you could be returning to me so soon after our last encounter. You were adamant you would never need to set foot upon my shores again, and that you found me… "repulsive…"

Moria stopped on the bottom step and stared down at her, his eyes wide with amusement and hunger, and his mouth open wide enough to swallow her whole with enough room for Pawn's upper half.

Rook didn't flinch. She had spent the past several weeks staring into the bottomless crimson eyes of Juzo Rameses, and the hatred and torment she witnessed there made Moria's scathing gaze feel like a light snowfall.

"You were right." She responded, cutting to the chase and keeping her voice flat. "I failed. Not because of Rameses, but in spite of him."

Moria roared another piercing, broken shriek of arrogant laughter.

"But how could this be?" He bemused sarcastically, "I granted you one of my own to accompany you, yet still you were vanquished?"

She removed her bandaged left arm from its sling and held up her bloodied hand with its missing fingers.

"I misjudged my quarry." She stated simply. "I need a new crew and some more tricks, and I need them now."

For the first time, a flicker of disappointed confusion appeared on the Warlord's face. No doubt convinced she should be groveling to him for aid, he seemed put off by her attempting to give him commands.

"And why would I do that? I seem to recall you promising me free reign over the Grand Line and all four oceans in addition to twenty new ships for my fleet after you assassinated the High Admirals. Yet I recently heard mention over a Navy channel the demands you made to the young Navy officer about having the Warlords replaced with your own crew."

"You're right. I said exactly that because I knew she would never agree to it. Are you going to whine about having your feelings hurt or are you going to help?"

Moria stepped down fully into the courtyard and made towards her at a casual walk.

"I see no reason why I should. There's less of you now than there was before, making you less of a threat, and to aid you a second time I feel would be a waste of my valuable resources."

"I've brought goods to exchange." Rook countered, her neck starting to ache from staring up at him at that angle. "I have someone here I think you'll be interested in. Someone perhaps who's shadow would be a suitable fit for your frozen pet up there."

She nodded her head towards the tower.

"Show me…" Moria's enormous smile spread across his narrow face like an infection.

Lady Rook turned and nodded to Pawn, who unceremoniously shrugged off the figure who had been lying over his shoulder and tossed the unconscious form upon the cobblestones at Moria's feet.

The Pirate Warlord glanced down at the offering and poked it with his boot tip, rolling it over to expose a dark-haired woman wearing a breastplate. A silver streak ran down the front of her face amongst her tousled locks.

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Rook.

"And this is?"

"Callisto the Valkyrie." She replied, her voice deadpan.

Moria wailed with laughter that was immediately echoed across the courtyard by his brainless horde of undead minions.

"The Valkyrie has never been overpowered. It's rumored that she's an immortal, a ghost even, and completely immune from harm."

"You still believe in ghost stories?" Lady Rook gave an amused smirk. "Well, on second thought, look who I'm talking to."

For the first time, she took a confident step forward and put her boot's heel down onto Callisto's neck.

"One thing she's not immune to is rum. Even in a drunken, half-paralyzed stupor she nearly killed us all, so I'll admit there's something to the rumors, but here she is all the same. Courtesy of Juzo Rameses and the Chess Piece Pirates. Do you want her or not?"

Moria seemed to reconsider. "How do I know that's really her and not some tavern wench you've kidnapped?"

Rook snapped her fingers and the third pirate, his face concealed behind a red shawl, came forward and placed the chalice beside the unconscious woman.

"That's the secret to her strength. She uses it to temporarily harness Devil Fruit powers. Don't ask me how. I gift it to you as a bonus."

Moria's intrigued features returned to looking skeptical.

"I've heard of no such trinket."

"Well, then I'll keep it." She shrugged and bent forward to pick it up when Absalom intercepted her hand and scooped up the silver cup in his clawed fist.

"My Master…" He hissed as he glanced up at his overlord. "It bears the mark of the Celestial Dragons."

Moria's fiery eyes went wide and he bent forward to pick up the Bounty Hunter to examine her more closely.

"She is one of the Navy's favorite weapons. If I cripple her, they may not look upon me with much favor hereafter."

"They don't look upon you favorably now." Lady Rook responded without missing a beat. "When was the last time you paid any attention to their laws? Anyway, who says they have to know? Let them think she went down with the Navy Ship that carried us."

Moria seemed to ponder the proposal as he stared down at the limp woman in his clawed hand.

"I'll accept your offering. I'll also accept your ship, what's left of your crew, and your oath of loyalty."

Lady Rook felt the ranks of zombies close in around her as Moria spoke.

"That's not going to work for me." She responded as she drew her sword with her good hand. "You don't want to negotiate? Fine. Keep Callisto and the chalice. We'll return to our ship and leave your island permanently. Be warned though, Juzo Rameses is waiting for us back on the ship, and he's just itching for a confrontation."

"And I'm happy to oblige him." Moria took another step forward so he was close enough to crush Lady Rook beneath his foot. "I'll have his shadow as well. I hear he's a bottomless pit of rage and destruction. If the Valkyrie's shadow doesn't suffice for my giant, his most certainly will."

Lady Rook watched as the zombies began to flank them. On either side of the Warlord, two new figures had appeared whom she judged to be more formidable than the rest.

One was a skeletal samurai with a blue shawl and a white robe who gracefully pulled a gleaming black katana from a sheath at its side while staring at her with the bottomless black pits that served as its eyes.

The second did not appear to have any eyes at all. It was a lean mechanical figure who seemed pieced together from various strips of jagged metal and overlarge round rusted gears. It had broad shoulders, wiry arms, and clawed metal hands, but what was most unnerving about it was its lack of any features. Indeed, its entire head seemed to be a simple black cone with a variety of spikes protruding from the crown. From the nest of spikes, a wisp of gray smoke escaped as if a furnace was operating at half-capacity inside the skull. It wore a thick, purple cloak and clutched an overlarge sledgehammer in its metallic claws that looked even heavier than its owner was.

"Moria…" Rook pointed her sword point towards him. "I'm warning you. Stand your puppets down. If you capture or kill us, the remaining Chess Piece Pirates will set aside their current plans and make you their priority. Surely by now you've seen the state of my ship and have a sense of what we do to those who betray us."

The towering vampiric beast leered down at her with a manic ecstasy in his eyes.

"The Chess Piece Pirates are just another band of ruffians, be it with higher than average aspirations. Pirate bands such as yours rise and fall with the tides. But I am constant. I am a Warlord. I have the might of the Imperial Navy and my Shadow Army at my beck and call. You should have reconsidered your allegiances."

"You think the Navy will avenge you if you fall?" Rook spat. "You're nothing to them. A pitiful figurehead representative of a fragile truce. They would replace you without a second thought because you're just another pirate. An unstable pirate on an extremely tight leash."

Moria's smile reversed itself into a snarling frown as he bent forward and backhanded the woman as hard as he could, sending her flying back to crash into Pawn's bulk, her rapier clattering free across the cobblestones.

The Warlord pulled his gargantuan scissors from behind his back and held up Callisto's limp form, displaying her to his surrounding hoard like a hard-won token of victory.

"After I take this shadow, I think I'll bite your head off Colette." He raised his eyebrows menacingly. "Then I'll kill your men, shackle Rameses and burn your ship. No one will even remember the Chess Piece Pirates ever existed."

Lady Rook spat a wad of bloody phlegm onto the stones beneath her as the sky opened up and the rain began to pour.

"King and Queen will kill you for this, Moria…" She threatened him.

"Your King and Queen aren't here." Moria hissed as he began to peel the shadow from Callisto's form like an outer layer of skin as he raised his scissors to perform the cut.

There was a silence as the rain seemed to pause in midair and that single second of time seemed to extend itself into several dozen. Lady Rook watched as Callisto's eyes shot open and green fire erupted from within her skull, its light suddenly blinding Moria and all his undead slaves.

Callisto tossed her head back and shattered the chains that bound her, and the force of the explosion splintered the bones in the giant Warlord's hand to fragments. The scissors fell from his other hand as he bellowed in rage and pain.

In one delicate, fluid strike, Callisto spun in midair, caught the back end of the scissors with her toe as they were in freefall and kicked them forward, burying one of the blades directly into the Warlord's swollen belly.

The rain resumed its normal rhythm as the Valkyrie landed smoothly on one knee, her eyes still blazing with unholy fire as she looked up into Moria's petrified face.

"But the Queen _is_ here…" She whispered.

Green flame exploded beneath her as she launched herself forward and smashed her fist directly between Moria's piercing eyes and knocked him over backward and flat on his back.

_"KILL THEM!"_ Absalom roared as he vanished from sight.

Rook drew a hidden sword from Pawn's belt and met the black blade of the undead Samurai as it leapt forward at her.

The mechanical guard charged forward arching its massive hammer, but the third pirate tore off its red turban revealing the familiar venomous snake eyes of the Navy commander Shu. He shot forward to intercept the strike and caught the hammer directly between his hands. The metal weapon disintegrated into loose brown shards of dust, rusting away halfway down its handle.

Pawn roared and pulled two long-chain whips from behind his back with menacing hooked anchors attached to the ends. He swung them across both flanks of zombie soldiers and speared them like trout on spikes.

Callisto walked across Moria's chest as it heaved beneath her, drawing in great gulps of air. His undamaged hand clung to the lone blade of his own scissors embedded in his gut. The second blade's handle bounced freely off his ribs as he shuddered in pain.

The Bounty Hunter looked down into the Warlord's hateful eyes.

"You were never worthy of the title, Gecko." She whispered with the faintest hint of humor at the edge of her voice. "You've been on borrowed time ever since the Warlords were established. By tomorrow, nothing you've ever built will be standing and your bones will lie in darkness forever at the bottom of the sea."

She turned and idly placed her hand on the handle of the scissor's free blade.

"My one regret is that I can't make this last longer, but the sooner you're gone, so are your friends."

Blood gurgled in Moria's throat as he attempted to cry out.

Callisto shoved the handle upwards, driving the second blade into the pirate's side, shearing through meat and bone to arrive beside its twin inside the rancid sack that was his stomach.

Black blood spurted from the wound and began to paint the courtyard floor beneath them as Gecko Moria heaved a final death rattle and his eyes opened wide as he realized his life's blood was abandoning him.

With a ferocious explosion of noise, the undead around them began to collapse as their shadows abandoned their meat cages and escaped into the sky.

The samurai dueling against Lady Rook suddenly crumpled forward to land at her feet. Its black soul ripped itself free from between the teeth and the katana fell harmlessly into a nearby puddle, the rainwater already beginning to darken as Moria's foul blood pooled.

Lady Rook's own shadow accomplice tore itself free from her and flew beyond her reach far up into the storm clouds above. Unphased, she spun and pulled her curved blade from where it was tucked in her hat band and hurled it sideways seemingly at nothing. It flew for half a moment before implanting itself solidly in midair as fresh blood spurted outwards from an invisible source.

The swordmaster calmly walked forward towards her prey as Absalom shimmered back into focus and collapsed onto his knees, her weapon lodged deep inside his thick neck.

He dropped the silver chalice as Rook squatted next to him. She grabbed the back of his head in her damaged left hand and took hold of her projectile in the other.

"I've been wanting to do this for so long…" She gloated as she dragged the knife across his throat, spilling the general's perversions down the front of his cloak and between his knees.

"Grab the chalice!" Callisto pointed from atop Moria's lifeless bulk as it began to roll into a far corner of the courtyard.

Picking her way over several fallen zombie corpses Lady Rook scooped up the goblet and walked back towards her commander.

"Sorry about the boot on your neck." She apologized to the other woman as she knelt by the dead Warlord and held the cup to his open wound. "I had to sell it."

Callisto tossed her wet hair out of her eyes. "I'll return the courtesy someday soon, but in the meantime, we need that hand of yours repaired."

The Chess Piece Monarch leapt down beside Lady Rook and took the now full chalice from her hand. She chanted an incantation and emerald flame danced around the edges of the cup before it evaporated into white smoke. She handed it back.

"Your abilities won't be half as strong as his were. It's too watered down to be as potent, but it'll be helpful enough."

"Let's get this over with." Rook took a deep breath and drank from the cup. She nearly retched after a single swallow.

"Oh, holy celestial shit!" She spat furiously before covering her nose with her left wrist and forcing herself to drink the rest in four deep gulps. She hurled the empty cup down at her feet and covered her mouth as if trying to prevent herself from being sick, but after a moment she straightened up and an inky darkness seemed to congeal behind her eyes. She smiled as the color returned to her cheeks and there came a great tearing sound as four shadow claws emerged from her bandaged hand to replace the fingers Tashigi had removed.

"Yes…" She whispered as she stared at her new hand. "In both darkness and in daylight, now I can grip a sword again."

She picked up the black katana the samurai had dropped. "Not normally my style of blade, but it will be more than adequate to execute Roronoa Zoro and his Navy cheerleader."

"You should be able to restore life to about fifty or so of these carcasses by drawing back some shadows," Callisto informed her. "We need as many as we can get."

"I… I feel them…." Rook smirked as she waved the sword above her like she was conducting a symphony and several dozen shadows returned to the bodies they had moments before abandoned.

Callisto turned to see Pawn dragging a flailing Hogback towards him with one of the chains in which he had ensnared the oafish scientist. Shu was holding the mechanical man under his boot, torturing him as he slowly rusted his iron form from spiked helmet to pointed boot. There was no sign of the parasol carrying Perona anywhere.

"Stop." She instructed Shu and walked over to stand beside the scrapheap soldier.

"This one isn't a zombie like the others?" She asked.

"No." Shu hissed. "He's some kind of contraption."

"Restore him. Now." She commanded.

Shu complied by resting his hand on the creature's back and after a moment the patches of rust had vanished from his metal limbs. His color returned to a shiny oil black, improving him beyond the condition he had been upon their arrival.

The faceless being stood up and adjusted its cloak, its clockwork joints ticking and whirring audibly from inside its mechanical chest.

"What is your name?" Callisto asked.

"I have been assigned the name Cronin." The robotic soldier responded in a deeper, smoother voice than any of them would have expected.

"Do you have free will, Cronin?" Callisto asked.

"I have the freedom to serve Gecko Moria by protecting my creator, Doctor Hogback."

Callisto turned to look at the squat figure of the Doctor sweating profusely, helplessly entangled in one of Pawn's tentacle chains.

"Doctor Hogback created you? You serve as his bodyguard?"

"I do," Cronin replied matter-of-factly.

Callisto strode over to their captive and held her hand out in front of her as if pointing at him. She clenched her fist and turned it slowly as though tightening the hatch on a submarine door. Doctor Hogback squawked as he was lifted up into the air by an invisible force, his face going blue as he fought to breathe.

"Answer my questions honestly and I won't kill you." She stated remorselessly, the green fire dancing behind her eyes momentarily before she opened her hand and he fell back to earth again.

Hogback gasped as he groveled upon the wet stones, beads of rain running down his bald head.

"What exactly is Cronin?" She knelt forward to better hear the wheezing pig of a man.

"He's a fully functioning automaton!" Hogback belched. "He runs on coal, and the hotter the furnace is within him the more powerful he becomes. At his strongest he can lift seventy times his own weight. He is impervious to pain and immune to fear."

"Is he capable of repairing himself if need be?" Callisto asked.

"He needs minimal repair," Hogback responded desperately. "His clockwork components are self-setting, magnetized by the rotation of the moon. Please, my lady…."

Hogback began to whimper as he crawled forward and begged.

"He is but a prototype. A new project of mine. I could manufacture you an entire army just like him if you desire."

"Not really." She stood back up. "How does he decide whose commands to follow?"

"He owes his allegiance to whoever will allow him the freedom to reach his full potential," Hogback stated as he attempted to meet her gaze.

"Which a prototype normally doesn't do." Callisto turned to face the Frankenstein monster of metal and heat.

"Gecko Moria is dead. I killed him. I am Callisto the Valkyrie, Queen of the Chess Piece Pirates. I'm giving you the opportunity to choose your own fate. I could use a being of your talents on my crew. Join me and you will be given the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of your potential. Remain loyal to the fallen and you can join him in death."

Cronin's metal head seemed to twitch as he considered.

"I choose to exist. I choose to impose my strength."

Callisto bent her head towards Hogback.

"Good. Then kill him."

"My lady!" Hogback wailed, straining against the chains. "You promised you wouldn't kill me!"

"I'm not." She replied simply. "I'm leaving it up to Cronin."

"Please! I can assist you!"

"Ugh," She rolled her eyes. "I'd cut your throat the first time you opened your mouth and laughed. You and Moria, the most painful laughs on the Grand Line. Future generations will thank me for ending that noise."

Cronin stepped forward and placed his hands on either side of Hogback's head without hesitating.

"Cronin! You are my creation! Think about what you're doing!" The stout man pleaded.

"I am examining the strength of my compassion. It appears you did not provide me with enough." Cronin replied emotionlessly.

"NO! _NO!_" Hogback wailed as his desperate pleas turned into a scream of pain as Cronin forced his head sideways until the neck snapped. Pawn recoiled his chain and the lifeless body of the Doctor collapsed onto the cobblestones like a limp fish.

"I knew I liked you," Callisto smirked at Cronin. "Now, how many prisoners does Moria have here?"

"Eighty-seven." The mechanical man replied.

"All various pirates?" She asked.

"Affirmative."

"They've likely noticed their shadows restored and they'll be capable of moving in sunlight. Release all of them from their cells. Tell them the Chess Piece Pirates are recruiting and they can either join us aboard the _Grandmaster_ or stay here and burn. We'll have food and drink awaiting them."

Cronin snapped to attention. "It shall be done, Lady Callisto."

"Did Moria inform anyone we had arrived?"

"Negative."

"Is he expecting any Navy visitors anytime soon?"

"Negative."

"Good. Go and get those cells open then." She dismissed him. "And if you find Perona, tell her I'd love to have a chat."

Cronin clomped away unbothered by the rain, a haze of smoke still escaping the funnel of spikes atop his mechanical crown.

Shu, Pawn, and Lady Rook gathered around the soggy form of Gecko Moria. About forty or so of the bigger, stronger zombies staggered forward to stand obediently behind their new shadow master.

"Where's the samurai?" Callisto asked Rook.

"Couldn't recall that shadow, unfortunately. It's long gone." She replied with a shrug.

"Pity. That one would have been useful."

"Not if I'm the one using his blade." Lady Rook sheathed her new weapon with her new clawed shadow hand.

"Shu, until Bishop resurfaces you will hold the position in her place. You've proved your loyalty." Callisto declared.

The former marine bowed. "I am honored to serve you, my Queen."

"Now return to the ship with Pawn. Cut down our old crew and drop them in the drink. We need to prepare for the arrival of a new crew."

Shu and Pawn bowed and made their way towards the courtyard door. It took less than thirty seconds for Pawn to break it open by tearing the iron hinges off the wall and then collapsing the drawbridge.

"Rook, send a couple of your new friends to gather as much coal as they can for Cronin. Have the rest of them escort you to the docks. I believe our other friends will be arriving shortly."

"What about Rameses?" She refastened the curved knife back into her hat brim.

"I'll deal with him momentarily." Callisto licked her lips. She raised her fist into the air and Moria's body was lifted several feet above the ground and left to hover there.

"Bring out that new blade of yours…" She smirked.

* * *

Blackfoot Sanji lowered the spyglass as the pirate ship temporarily under his command, the _Kraken's Fang_, made for the smoking heap of charred wood that was floating lifeless upon the sea.

"It looks like the Marine Ship Rameses was imprisoned on," Etain spoke from beside him. "Guess we won't know for sure until we get there."

Sanji handed the spyglass over to his newly assigned first mate.

"It is." He stated simply. "Look at the mast."

Etain focused the telescope for a moment before her jaw fell in shock.

"_What the hell?_ Is that…?"

"Vikander. Yes." Sanji nodded.

The Navy magistrate was suspended above the water upon the masthead like a scarecrow, a clear sign to whoever came upon the wreckage that it had once been his ship. The man appeared to have had his appendages torn off and then sewn incorrectly back together. His legs protruded from under his shoulders and his arms flopped limply from down below his knees. His head was perched atop a wooden stake sticking out of his neck and his dead eyes were being nibbled at by seagulls. A single spiked quill protruded from his torso, impaled between his ribs.

"We need to get a closer look." He instructed the foxtail pirate. "Realign the cannons and then lower two lifeboats. Be prepared for a trap. Pick four men you trust enough to leave you behind if you get impaled."

"Sparkly." Etain grimaced as she handed back the spyglass and walked towards the main deck.

Sanji looked back at the floundering wreckage. Vikander's corpse was a message. Rameses knew they'd be pursued, and he had absolutely no fear of them, be they Navy or otherwise.

He had no idea how Rameses had escaped, but he suspected it hadn't been without help, and he was hoping to uncover any clue that could help him determine where the brute was going and who else they were up against.

As he lit up a new cigarette, he took inventory of what was available to him. The _Kraken's Fang_ was small for a warship but had more cannons and ammunition than the Straw Hat's ship had. The crew was twenty-five strong, but Ink was the only Devil Fruit wielder, and aside from Etain's eagle-eyed accuracy with a crossbow he had one fire-breather and one guy with an iron jaw who could chew through stone. The others were mostly competent with blades, but Sanji would have bet all the money on the Grand Line that he, Luffy, and Zoro together could have laid them all out without breaking a sweat.

That meant Rameses most definitely could as well.

He had no idea how he was supposed to defeat the spiked demon with only what he had available. His primary concern had been keeping his crewmates out of harm's way. It wasn't until he had succeeded in leaving them behind when he realized he was sailing into certain danger both short-staffed and injured. His shoulder wound had barely healed, and he could still feel the echoes of the blows the satyr woman had delivered him reverberating in his chest.

This time the strategy had to be different. They couldn't attempt to take him head-on like they had before. They needed to trap him, incapacitate him before he knew what was happening, and then drop him into the sea the way Marion had done to her cleaver-wielding crewmate all those years ago. That would require stealth, a foolproof plan, and absolutely no mistakes.

He prayed he had the capacity to lead this new crew across a tightrope as thin and treacherous as that.

After boarding the lifeboats he, Etain, and four men rowed towards the wreckage to better inspect what was left. The seagulls perched upon Vikander's corpse didn't pay them any attention as they passed underneath them.

"Be on the lookout for any surviving marines," Sanji instructed them as the lifeboats began to approach the debilitated ship from opposite directions.

Upon arriving close enough to smell the blackened wood of the foredeck he realized there wasn't much left to see. Most of what remained was the husk of the outer deck and random shards of flooring or furniture. There weren't any bodies to be found anywhere, living or otherwise.

Etain loaded her crossbow and trained it upon the charred debris. "This wasn't an explosion. The frame is mostly still intact. This was slow and precise. Looks like someone disabled the rudder and then set the whole ship ablaze."

Sanji peered down into the depths and noticed something reflect the sunlight from beneath the wreckage. He stood up and removed his suit jacket, tie and shoes before tossing his cigarette aside.

"I'll be right back. Don't wait more than five minutes."

"What are you…?" Etain began, but Sanji had already dove forward into the sea and began kicking his legs furiously towards the point the light had reflected from.

About thirty feet down he discovered the lifeless body of a man tangled in chains being held suspended from somewhere above.

He reached forward and turned the man's head to face him. It was Captain Iro. The man had undoubtedly been thrown overboard wrapped in the chains, but for some reason hadn't been allowed to be dragged into the darkness below. It appeared he had been intentionally tethered to the ship as it burned, likely as a morbid representation of the old sailor's expression: "The Captain always goes down with the ship."

The wreck hadn't completely sunk yet, but it wasn't going to remain floating much longer. Sanji tugged at the chains with all his might in a vain attempt to free the man and return his body to the surface, but it was no use. Iro was hopelessly ensnared, and it would have taken several men with plenty of air to collectively haul the weight of the captain and chains together.

As Sanji was about to depart he noticed the knife protruding from Iro's boot. Its gleam had been what had caught his eye from the lifeboat above. He shifted his weight and pulled the knife free, then he spotted the cut down by the man's ankle. Sanji paused and shoved his floating bangs out of the way of his eyes. The cut looked to be self-inflicted and based on the design was clearly meant to be a symbol of some kind.

A few moments later Sanji's head broke the surface and he gasped for air.

"Help him!" Etain cried out to the men as they dragged the soaking wet chef aboard one of the lifeboats.

Sanji dropped the knife on the deck and coughed as he mimed writing something on a piece of paper. "Get us back to the ship."

* * *

The captain's quarters aboard the _Kraken's Fang_ were still adorned with warm, dark velvet curtains, candelabras. and full-length mirrors from when Etain had been acting captain. Sanji didn't care. In fact, he had already vowed to sleep in the kitchens until his tenure with this crew was over.

He sat at the head of the table wrapped in a blanket with a fresh cigarette between his lips and Etain, Ink, and their navigator, and old gray-haired seabird named Argyle gathered around.

Etain unrolled the maps while Ink squeezed his fist and dripped a fresh supply of the black liquid from the sac under his palm into the quill bottle. After he had finished Sanji began to sketch the wound Captain Iro had carved into his ankle.

"Those are the wings on Callisto's breastplate," Etain stated before he had even finished. "That bitch, I knew I didn't like her."

"I thought Callisto agreed with you at the meeting that Rameses needed to be executed." Sanji raised an eyebrow.

"She did, but it must have been either a ruse or she's changed her mind since then." Etain conceded. "She may have suggested it just to avoid suspicion later."

Ink picked up the recovered knife and stared thoughtfully at it.

"Callisto examined Rameses's cell before they set sail. She knew he was bound with chains in that water tank, and we all know who could easily have broken those chains on route."

"Shu." Sanji muttered as Ink set down the blade. "So the Chess Piece Pirate's ship catches them, Shu frees Rameses and they cripple the ship. They kill Vikander and then maybe Callisto gives Iro a chance to surrender and save his remaining crew."

"More likely she made him watch as Rameses executed them all." Etain grimaced.

"In any case, he's thrown overboard while still alive and uses his own knife to cut into his ankle as he sinks, praying in his final moments someone would find him amongst the wreckage and realize what happened." Sanji theorized. "Okay, what do we know about Callisto? What kind of Devil Fruit power does she have?"

"She doesn't." Ink stated. "My twin sister was at port a year ago and watched her deliver a bounty to Vice Admiral Stainless. He commented that no one without devil fruit abilities could have apprehended as many pirates _with_ devil fruit powers as she had, and he implied she was hiding something. She dove into the sea, swam to the far side of his ship and with her bare hands turned it 180 degrees in the water before climbing back on deck and used the admiral's own jacket to wipe her face. The crowd parted for her after that like she was royalty. Some fear her even more than the Navy Admirals."

"So why would she betray the Navy and help the Chess Piece Pirates all of a sudden?" Sanji asked.

"Same reason Shu would I guess." Argyle shrugged. "They began paying them better."

Sanji stroked his chin. "Are you saying the Chess Piece Pirates could pay her more to keep Rameses free than the Navy could to keep him in chains? I doubt that. There has to be something more to it."

"So much has changed since Enies Lobby." Ink offered. "Allegiances have shifted. She may know something we don't. Maybe there's a war coming she thinks the Navy can't win, and this is her way of showcasing that her loyalty is now available to the highest bidder."

"Maybe it's just a small faction of Navy dissenters. Maybe Shu and Callisto are being paid off by someone higher up the ranks." Etain theorized.

"A civil war within the Navy…" Sanji murmured pensively. "I could see that developing."

He bent forward and put his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his fists.

"Let's assume Callisto and Shu are taking orders from someone else. Someone who wants to keep Rameses free. That means Rameses is just a weapon being used for a higher purpose. To cause conflict or to eliminate the opposition under the guise of a single random maniac." Sanji stated.

He stood up and tossed the blanket off his shoulders. "One thing's for sure. We can't win this on our own. We need help."

"So who do we ask?" Etain crossed her arms. "All of the Black Clover's allies have been decimated and you benched your own crew. I doubt the Navy will help unless it's on their own terms. Not even Smoker would break ranks to come help us based only on a hunch."

"I know someone…" Sanji said slowly. "But we'd need to contact her right now to have any chance of her getting here in time."

"Who's that?" Ink asked.

"Someone with a lot more ships than we have." Sanji bent down and looked at the map. "In order to use Rameses, they have to let him think he's in charge. His entire endgame has been to eliminate the Black Clovers. He failed at Russet Peak, so where would he go to finish the job?"

The three Black Clovers turned to glance at each other.

"The Port of Damocles," Etain muttered. "That was our home once. Rameses is probably eager to see what's become of it since he's been locked away."

"And if someone is secretly hoping to start a war, it would make sense to select a Navy trading post as a target." Ink added.

Sanji examined the map. "Even if that's not his target, it's a perfect place to meet with the friend I have in mind. Let's set course for there."

"The wind is with us," Argyle noted. "If Rameses made directly there, we may even catch them before they arrive."

"I'm going to contact Smoker and tell him what I found." Sanji slid his suit jacket back on. "The Navy will find the wreck eventually, but they may never recover Iro's body. He has to know what we suspect about Callisto and Shu. But before I do, let me make that long-distance call to an old friend."

* * *

Sitting atop the central tower on Thriller Bark, Callisto gazed down into the hollow stone chamber and marveled at the frozen giant Gecko Moria had been hiding from the world. He had spent so long waiting to find the perfect shadow to animate his ultimate warrior and unleash it upon the world, and now its potential would forever be wasted.

The irony was had he bothered to use any shadow at all and awoken the beast to defend the island, she likely would have never bothered to bring the Chess Piece Pirates here at all. Not that she felt they couldn't have beaten it, but it would have taken too much time and cost too many resources, and there had always been the possibility Moria would have stolen away during the fight and fled to Navy Headquarters. She doubted that on principle any of the Pirate Warlords would ever choose to run from a fight and dishonor themselves, but if there was an exception to that rule it would have been the former shadow master.

Crocodile's defeat had come as a pleasant surprise to her, as it had displayed a chink in the Navy's armor. They were not infallible in their decisions and neither were the precious, carefully selected Warlords in their strength. So much of their reputations had been built upon the terror stoked by the marines via word of mouth that it was a relief to see them eat those words for once and desperately try to vilify Monkey D Luffy in an attempt to save face.

Then barely had they recovered from that embarrassment when Enies Lobby had been destroyed, ironically, in part because of the exact same pirates who had dethroned Crocodile. Suddenly, unchecked vagabond pirates were seen as more of a threat than they ever had been before, which had finally provided her the opportunity to set her plan in motion.

A seventh Warlord replacement had not even been confirmed before the Navy was trying to salvage what they could from the catastrophe that had claimed more marine lives at once than any other single event in history. She knew she'd be able to get away with capitalizing on the chaos, perhaps even to the extent of eliminating a second Warlord, but moving forward she would have to be more cautious.

Her prey was wounded and bleeding but not quite incapacitated, and with five more potential pirate threats prepared to come to their aid if summoned, she wasn't quite ready to strike at the heart of the World Government just yet. She would need to remove at least a couple more before the High Admirals were angry enough to become reckless, and each of the remaining Warlords were each tricky in their own way. As of yet, she had no surefire way to remove any of them from the gameboard without risk of defeat or exposure.

What she did have in the meantime was Rameses and his ability to stir up the hornet's nest and leave bodies in his wake. What more could she have asked for than a pirate whose only desire was to throw himself into harm's way and kill as many perceived enemies as he could?

Vikander and Shu being selected for the task to pass sentence and transport Rameses hadn't been accidental. King had made sure they were the ones chosen for the assignment specifically with the strict instructions that Rameses be taken alive. Neither had known she was involved with the plan until after they had set sail, and by then she had already grown tired of the magistrate's pomp and bluster. He had gone off-script when he suggested the Straw Hats be taken into custody as well, no doubt looking to further pad his reputation, but their involvement had never been part of the plan, and as much as she had enjoyed singling out Nico Robin, imprisoning them would have forced her to rethink her entire strategy.

The look in his eye when he had invited her to his cabin for a private drink had been the final nail in his coffin.

She turned her head a fraction to look over at Lady Rook as she climbed the stone steps to stand beside her, looking down at the horned silhouette of Moria's lifeless beast.

"Moria's former prisoners have boarded the _Grandmaster_. A handful didn't get their shadows back and refused to comply, but I took care of them." She reported. "The others have arrived right on schedule."

"All of them?" Callisto raised an eyebrow.

"Well, apparently Don Krieg's ship didn't survive the momentum down the mountain as it hit the waters of the Grand Line, but I noticed a few of his men scattered amongst Kuro and Buggy's crews, so who knows… I probably would have killed the big galoot anyway. I doubt he would have been thrilled about taking orders from a couple of women."

Callisto stood and stretched. "It doesn't matter. They are all just cannon fodder. You'll lead the attack with Shu and Pawn. Make Sure Rameses is front and center. I'm taking Cronin to run an errand. I'll meet you after it's done."

"I've been eavesdropping on the Navy channels. Still no word of Bishop, and not even a hint that Iro's ship is missing. They're claiming Russet Peak was just a skirmish with Whitebeard's men." Lady Rook stated as she flexed her new clawed shadow fingers. "Have you made your final decision about the Straw Hats? I know you thought they might distract the Navy for a while, but we don't need any loose ends."

"You just want Zoro's head." Callisto gave her underling a sideways look.

"Yeah…" Lady Rook smirked and nodded without bothering to deny it.

Callisto shrugged. Her plan had relied heavily on the Navy not knowing who their enemies were and keeping the Straw Hats in play seemed a perfect way to keep them wasting their resources and spreading themselves thin. After all, those kids seemed the most obvious threat to their sovereignty being involved with both Crocodile's fall and Enies Lobby's destruction, but after her brief interaction with them, it seemed like they surprisingly had no personal vendetta against the World Government and were just as likely to aid them as they were to ignore them. Their choosing to help the Black Clover pirates against Rameses had been completely unanticipated and chances were they would be more a hindrance than a help moving forward.

"If Zoro enters your crosshairs again, kill him. If possible, I'd like to speak privately with Monkey D Luffy, but if they continue to interfere, you're right, it's safer to take them off the board."

She paused a moment to examine the sky before glancing back at Lady Rook.

"Cover your eyes."

The former bounty hunter clenched her fist and a green spear of lightning descended from the dark clouds above and blew a hole through the head of the creature below. Its skin began to shrivel and burn as fire spread inside its hollow ribcage.

"Shame we can't use it." Lady Rook lamented as she lowered her hand from her face. "I would have loved to try letting him loose across the Grand Line."

"Rameses is difficult enough to control. Your skills are better put to use on the battlefield, not playing puppet master to a being as unstable as that." Callisto responded. "Moria was a loud, pompous, bombastic fool. Everything had to be big and menacing and extravagant. The irony was for a shadow master he never once considered the option of hiding amongst them while he schemed. We won't make the same mistake."

A fiery pillar erupted from the top of the tower and blazing ash and debris began to rain down on the island on all sides. Rook pulled the silver chalice from her pocket and idly tossed it down into the flames.

"The bit you told Moria about my needing that was some quick thinking." Callisto acknowledged.

The purple-haired woman smirked. "Big man with overlarge scissors to compensate for his small intellect. I knew he'd appreciate the use of a prop. Just as you requested, we've got his head impaled on the bowsprit."

"Excellent. That'll send the message that the reign of the Warlords is coming to an end. In a few hours this entire island will be consumed by flame and then swallowed by the sea." Callisto proclaimed. "It's time we leave it in our wake."

* * *

From a distance, the single skeletal figure watched from his free-floating vessel as a few dozen ships departed from the island of Thriller Bark as it burned. He had no idea what had transpired that brought about the return of his shadow, but he didn't care. Not having to hide from the sunlight any more was an immense boost to his spirits.

As he sipped his cup of tea, he toasted good health to whoever had defeated Gecko Moria and was about to pull out his violin and play an uplifting tune when there was a thump on the deck behind him.

He turned to find a woman with a pink parasol collapsed on the wooden planks behind him. Apparently, she had ridden the winds as far as she could to escape the blaze and had finally decided she was better off on board with him than trusting herself any further to the gales and open sea.

The woman clenched her teeth and hissed as she sat up clutching at her elbow.

"Bump your funny bone?" The skeleton asked before bursting into a jolly chortle of laughter.

She ignored him. "I need to contact the Navy. Callisto the Valkyrie is planning to attack them or at the very least the Warlords. She killed Gecko Moria and burned his island."

The young woman panted for breath as she looked up with momentary confusion at the skeleton's wild head of hair.

The scrawny undead figure seemed to consider a moment. "Moria took my shadow and abandoned me to drift out here for all eternity. If what you say is true, I owe this Callisto the Valkyrie my thanks."

She stood shakily and folded up her parasol and glared at him. "I get that, but I'm not doing this to avenge Moria, I need to save my own skin. If the Navy finds out I survived her attack they are going to assume I helped her and betrayed them, but if I warn them, they keep my bounty frozen and I earn their protection."

"How honorable." The skeleton sipped his tea, his blank expression revealing nothing.

She paused to take another labored breath as she stared into the skeleton's hollow eyes.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not honorable. I normally I wouldn't care at all, but she's going to kill a lot of people, and I know there must be someone out there you care about enough to stop her. Moria's plan was to conquer using shadows, but this woman is looking to drown us all in blood, and however much I hate the World Government I'd rather live under their rule than serve under hers. Are you going to help me or not?"

The skeleton stared at her a moment longer and then returned his cup to the saucer with a soft clack of porcelain.

"If innocent lives are at stake, then of course I will assist you." He bowed and tipped his hat. "But first may I ask you a question?"

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"May I see your panties?"

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